Most churches fail miserably!
We take ourselves to church often knowing what we want to get out of it before we get there.
We want God to do this or that ... heal something we can't manage ourselves ... forgive us when we can't forgive ourselves and curse those we can't forgive ... we seek refuge from guilt, fear and loneliness.
Or we come for the entertainment!
We want good music ... funny sermons that can also make you cry ... great people watching ... wonderful gossip ... fervent political rhetoric ... opportunities to pass judgment ... to be part of a mob.
We go to church with so much agenda!
God help the clergy because most try to deliver on all of these things. They script the service with the precision of a Broadway musical or a military campaign. They ensure their people have the latest popular trend in worship ... excellent sound systems, large flat head television screens so everyone can see, elegant robes and mood lighting. They steal blindly from their peers for the best material. Some even orchestrate valet parking.Often the result resembles an addiction. The junkies want their fixes and the minister is happy to serve them as the dealer.
Lenny Bruce, of all people, once quipped, "Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God."
It's little wonder.
Love God like you love yourself. And love others like you love yourself.
That's what it's suppose to be about.
It's a shame its about so many other things.
