While there are certainly those who would jump up and say "No", I feel the need to point out some things we do well. Now, before you get all uptight or defensive of well written calls to fill in the gaps of our faith, let me be the first to say that I agree with those who point out those areas. The church DOES need to step up and be Christ to the modern day world. We DO lack in caring and concern for the vast majority of the world, and OFTEN spend our time focused on our little world. So, is there anything we can give a thumbs up to? Anything we can point to and say, well- we did pretty good there? I believe there is, and while this isn't a theological debate or a doctrinal thesis, I think there is a lot of good being done today.
First, I think we are getting better at not "Shooting our own while they are down", by that I mean we have gotten away from condemning others in the faith when they stumble or fall. In order to create an environment that restores and renews, we can't throw rocks and verbally abuse, but work towards completion and recovery. I think that many churches today are beginning to understand that, and as we see leaders fall; and endure the comments from the media, we start to see that we need to help restore, not aide in the throwing.
Next, the community of believers have done better at being friends instead of enemies. I recently watched a good pastor friend of mine lead over 10 churches from the area in a community work day. Aptly titled "Outside the Walls", the goal was to work as a faith community to serve the city they lived in. On a Sunday morning, several hundreds of Christians (not Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal- but Christians) worked on cleaning up school grounds, planting trees along the green way, and making their town a better place to live. Now, were they going to have theological debates, or get in to the church pre/post tribulation?, NO. But they could work together, and even have time to worship God and His Son Jesus as a faith community after the work was done. People who share our values (or even a majority of them) need to be folks we can lean on, and fellowship with. Not a clique, but a base of friends, believers who want the best for each other.
Finally, the hot word of the past 10-15 years "Worship". Growing up in a conservative church, that word basically meant singing the first and last verses of three hymns, followed by a special music solo or choir number. NO, there is nothing wrong with that format, or the songs that were sung. Many are still dear to my heart and I enjoy singing them today, often with new arrangements and new life. I do feel that now we spend more time laying with our faces down at Jesus' feet, and focusing on lifting our voices and our spirit to God. This generation of song writers and lead worshipers have a earnest desire to simply lay everything down and just "be" in God's presence. Its not about clothing, instruments being used, or even Bible translations. Its about spending some time with our "daddy", curling up in His lap and being loved by a Father that longs for us to spend time with Him.
I know that for me and many that I run with, we seek to be the "Hands & Feet" in a very real and practical sense. I don't like playing church, I love being the church, and being AT my church. When people see real relationships, they will ask what's different, and then we have the opportunity to share why we love the way we do. Are we perfect? No. Are we "There" yet? No. Is there a lot of issues to work on? YES. However, I think that sometimes we need to step back, and while examining our actions & what can be improved on, also put a sticker on the wall that says "Good Job" to recognize when we did something right. We have plenty folks to tell us what we are doing wrong, lets not overlook what we do right.
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