A religious label no longer fits me - Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical or Independent

I confess I do not agree with all Catholicism and Evangelism teachings. There are some of each that I like. There are some of each I believe. There are some of each I follow in my personal walk with God. There are some of each that I believe have it all wrong. Neither of them any longer totally satisfy me. I have come to believe most Catholic priest read and study the Bible with their mind and a lot of Evangelical ministers read and study the Bible using only their hearts.

Being a product of the seminary I loved those deep discussions on theology and philosophy. But, I finally realized I knew God with my mind, but I did not have a real personal heart relationship with Him.

The Bible may have become just another academic course I had to complete to be ordained. I take responsibility for it, but I also blame the priest that trained me. It was a shock when I entered the reality of ministry and found some parishioners really had a better personal relationship with God than I did - with all my book smarts. It was also a shock when I started to watch Christian television and on occasions stumbled on an Evangelical minister that had something worthwhile to say and was not begging money.

I now realize how important it is to read the Bible with both the heart and mind. I now know how important it is to stop and pause and allow God to speak to us as we read and study.  We can memorize all the scripture we want, but if it does not touch our heart we really have accomplished nothing. I guess as many Christians do we can use it to impress others.

I recently read a book on brain/thought/mind and quite time. This may sound foolish to some of you that are smarter than me, but I always thought of my brain as the organ that produced action and thought. After reading the book and spending a lot of time thinking about what the author wrote I came to believe the brain only reacts to what our mind (thought) tells it to. I wonder if the Bible really means ‘mind’ when it speaks of heart so many times.

If you are like I was you may be spending time in daily Bible study aimed more at interpreting the text than at meditation and experiencing God. You may also find your prayers are more ritualistic or formal than personal. Is your prayers dominated by petitions for needs and confession of sins. Mine was. If you are Catholic yours are probably taken from a little prayer book. It saddens me when I see Sunday after Sunday people with their little paper prayer books praying from them instead of having a simple conversation with  God.  The words used by great men of the church is not what God wants to hear. God wants to hear from us.

I began to notice many years back that parishioners were leaving the Mass after some of the priest delivered their homily without getting any practical knowledge to take with them to apply in their daily lives – a waste of time. The priests were delivering the same stuff that was delivered to them in the seminary without feeling, personal experiences or practical application given. I have found that in a lot of the Evangelical churches the congregation leaves full of emotional feeling (Adrenalin)and little mental comprehension. There needs to be a balance. What is the point in going to church if you are fed book knowledge or given an Adrenalin high that does not carry you through the week and cannot be applied to real life situations.

I am opposed to those speed reading Bible assignments that some ministers believe produce such great fruit. Read only with your mind and not your heart and you will not accomplish anything. Reading the Bible should be about establishing a personal relationship with God. I have had relatives that are more interested in CHECKING off the daily reading list given by the pastor or purchased in bookstores than really understanding how it applies to their life. That yearly Bible reading goal should not interfere with the big-picture of having 365 daily opportunities to feed your soul in God’s word.

If I am pressed for time and do not have the time to read scripture and then meditate on what I read I put it off until later in the day, but if possible always accomplish it before I go to sleep that night. Reading the Bible should not feel like an obligation it should be something you enjoy and want to do. After reading scriptures you need to take time to ponder on them (meditate) and seek how they can apply to your daily life. I have a relative that was in the hospital for about a week and unable to read her Bible. When she got home the first day she caught up on all the daily reading she had missed and called me to confirm that she had. I did not have the heart to tell her I was not impressed. I would have preferred she just picked up with the daily reading on the day she got home.

Research shows nearly six in ten (59%) of young people who grow up in Christian churches end up walking away from either their faith or from the institutional church at some point in their first decade of adult life. Sadly when asked what has helped their faith grow, “church” does not make even the top 10 factors. Instead, the most common drivers of spiritual growth, as identified by Millennials themselves, are prayer, family and friends, the Bible and their relationship with Jesus.

This tells me the organizational church is failing the young people. We need to stop blaming society and start looking within our own walls. Perhaps the organized church has allowed itself to fall out of step with modern times – I believe it has.  I think many young people feel the organized church is not relevant’ or see attending worship services ‘a boring duty’. If that is true then it is the Churches fault. I do not think most churches today offer the depth young people need to deal with their everyday life decisions. Modern life is complex!

Many Evangelical Churches have created a Young People’s Country Club or Night Club and that is not the solution in my opinion. They are looking for the same thing we adult Christians are looking for - a personal relationship with God, a place where they can be accepted for who they are and to be given an opportunity to take a meaningful and productive role in the church.

I think people have the right to expect from their church:

Acceptance

People want to feel not only welcomed and loved but also wanted. I think the Catholic Church does an awful job of making visitors feel welcome. A lot of Protestant Churches go to great pain to make first time visitors welcome and forget about them after that. Is your Church a place that welcomes people on the first visit and beyond the first visit?

Accountability

People want to be held accountable. They want someone to follow up with them and make sure they are understanding what has been taught and how it can be used in their daily life. Is your Church a place that motivates and provides  partnership to the goal of serving Christ?

Discipleship

People desire to know more about their faith whether it’s newfound or not. People want to understand what they are doing, why they are doing it and how to improve what they are doing. Is your Church a place of learning that equips the believer with the tools necessary to survive in the Christian walk? 

Opportunity

A growing Christian wants an opportunity to get involved in the ministry of the church they attend. People want to be a part of something. People want to serve, and we must not forget God wants them to serve as well. As a Church we must be excelling at preparing our members for service. Giving them an opportunity to serve Jesus. So many times we can fail because we wait too long to get new members involved in serving. They want to serve, and we must let them. Is your Church full of opportunities to serve?

Is your Church a place of acceptance, accountability, discipleship and opportunity or is it a place where the leadership has expectations for everyone else, but not themselves.