Burning Down The House

Last updated on: May 19, 2016 at 5:06 pm by John O'Keefe

Burning Down The House 2016-05-19T17:06:21-05:00 John O'Keefe

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A-PATHEOS-TNJ-FIRE.fw Too many Christians are taking to heart the words of the Talking Heads, they’re Burning Down the House. Over the past few years I have been reading study, after study, after study. Most simply share the WHO; this group is leaving the church. But none have gone deep enough into the WHY. I tend to think the reason is because if we did go deeper into the WHY, we would find that we truly are Burning Down our own House.

I mean, even Lifeways, the publishing are of the SBC, never really goes too deep into asking WHY. When you do, I honestly get a feeling that the questions they ask are designed to push the Corporate line. We know that Millennials are leaving, or not even starting to attend, WHY? We can get a ton on antidotal responses to the WHY, but nothing real, noting hard, noting that pushed the church to see that they are the Firer Starters, the ones Burning Down the House.

Please note, I’m not saying we never look at the WHY. When we do, it is pure fluff, surface stuff like, “They don’t feel like the church is building community” – but we need to know how people actually feel, “I got treated like shit every time I went in the building.” If the church is truly interested in knowing why people are leaving, or not interested in starting to attend, the church needs to hear honest, direct, gut level, intentional answers – ones that shock us, ones that honestly speak the hearts of others – not ones that clean up emotions, but ones that allow us to feel the sting of an honest, open wound. Some may not like it, but there is no way anything will change if we sugar-coat the answers.

We need surveys that actually go deeper; deep down into the real reasons people leave. You see, I have a gut feeling that people leave because of the Institutional Church, and the Corporate Jesus(R) they push from the front are not helping them deal with life – but that is just antidotal on my end.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 11, 2016

I’ve Been Called Worse

Next Post

May 24, 2016 We Need Revolutionaries

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abuse bad Bad Theology Blue Christian Karma Christmas Church Clinton Coming Out Day Cruz Dance Dangerous Church Discrimination Disruptive Faith disruptive peace Disrutive Church Doctrine Dominionism Evangelism Faith Fun good grace Hell Hillary Inclusive Justice Keller Leadership love Messy Church Missional New Parable Open Peace Play Politics Prayer Progressive racism random Safe Church Sessions Story Theology Trump truth Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2019 December 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 December 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the correct sequence of the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Love, peace, joy, kindness, forbearance, faithfulness, goodness, self-control, gentleness Joy, love, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, forbearance, gentleness, self-control Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, forbearance, faithfulness, self-control, gentleness Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control