Day 29

I've been thinking a lot lately about the relevancy of the church in our culture today. Our ever dwindling Sunday morning attendance (not only in my community, but in most others I know of) continues to gnaw at my "relevant" nerve. At our small group meeting last night, we talked about the newest Oprah book club best seller, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. Oprah and Tolle are doing a weekly webcast on Monday nights as well, and last week there was something like 500,000 people online for the webcast. Is this just good marketing? Is it that Oprah has her name associated with it?

I think it's interesting (coincidental, maybe??) that the latest best-selling "Christian" book was Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life. Are both of these huge sellers satisfying some craving in our society for purpose? Are there that many people struggling to find a deeper meaning to life, wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves, wanting to be happy? And how has the church so badly missed this mark? Do people even consider seeking God for an answer to their cravings? If so, are they doing it on their own, with no "need" to find a church.

Have we really missed the point that badly of what it means to be the church? I read an interesting blog post on this subject earlier today, appropriately titled "So What?" I think Mark is onto something there. As the church, we must find ways to help people right where they are with the problems and issues they face right now. That doesn't mean designing a ministry "program" with five key points that lead to a happier marriage. I think it means sitting with people, listening to people, helping each one individually walk through their valleys and come out on the other side. This is how Jesus interacted with people. He didn't offer a generalized, "one-size-fits-all" approach. His approach was relational and compassionate. "What do you want me to do for you?" was his common question. Not, "Have we got a fantastic new opportunity for you!" People don't need something else to do or some other event to attend or some other activity to put their kids in. People need compassion. People need relationships. People need hope. Isn't this what the church should be doing?