"Why the Church is not a Firework"

Remember the fourth of July?

As much as Americans think about breathing on this king of all patriotic holidays they think about fireworks. They are one of the most dangerous and fantastic things still widely available to the general public. It seems quite ridiculous that I'm legally able to ignite a small bomb and set it off for my friends and family to see. But I can. And I do.

Juan is 5. He is my brother in law but probably connects with me a bit more like a nephew. He has lots of questions. Lots of needs. I teach him things and though he sometimes thinks he's completely capable of reasoning the dangers of the deep end of the pool, he can't.

We arrived early. We wanted to have plenty of time to take a run, then be lazy throughout the day with as little drama as possible. As a motive toward good behavior, Ellen and I told Juan about the fireworks show that he and I could put on for everyone that night. Still unsure of what fireworks actually look like, he responded with moderate behavior and reminded me each hour that his good works were to be rewarded come night fall.

When the sky grew dark, he and I popped a few firecrackers and lit a sparkler or two.It was with mild fanfare and short periods of noise that this show was complete.

I knew this was a weak display of explosives. I knew that a summer day full of even decent behavior from a five year old boy earned a front row seat at Epcot Center or the Washington Monument. I've seen greater firework displays. I've seen them from a boat, from the beach, from a wet sidewalk and even from an airplane. I've seen explosives that were more fantastic and expensive than I could even approach. But Juan knew nothing more than what I had offered. He heard the word "fireworks" and went back to some file in his mind that didn't hold a lot of data. He hadn't spent his entire life passing Interstate fireworks shops and catching late night "how they do it" shows on TLC.

After the show was over (in all it's 9 minutes of grandeur) Juan promptly replied with "This is the greatest fireworks day ever" and he meant it.

Juan's expectations were high. I told him in the morning that this reward was worth great sacrifice. That he should want it so much that he should go against his natural boyish, mischievous tendencies in order to receive it.

Isn't this how trends are started? Someone comes up with an often mediocre idea and just markets the mess out of it. The consumer trusts the marketer and gives in, even sacrifices financially or physically in order to receive it.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of this ploy and felt a little disappointed afterwards? Have you ever watched the commercial and read the add and listened to the "checkout lane" conversation in front of you and then felt a little cheated after you took the dive for yourself?

I know I'm not supposed to ask this question, but I wonder of people ever feel like this when they walk into church?

I firmly believe the church is God's plan and we have to stop bashing it. Nothing makes me more angry than another blog post shredding the church.

But (in as mild a tone as possible)what if it's boring to the outsiders? What if all the commercials and billboards paint an unreal picture of what actually happens inside?

Not to simply defend myself from being guilty of my own complaints but...

I really believe that my church does a good job of this (consistency). Everything is presented in as excellent a way as possible and is still back-checked for improvements. People are told one mission statement and walk away with one theme for the day. They likely meet someone they know or leave with a new connection and that is huge!

But it's a lot of work. Numerous meetings are held. People work late and arrive early to be sure that what we advertise actually takes place. We don't want someone to leave this place more confused than they came, but at the same time we don't want people to think we have it all figured out. Just a company of soldiers or family of people walking through life together.

This is one big struggle in the church. I think sometimes we believe that by making one adjustment, we are changing everything. The truth is, adding more signage certainly helps direct traffic but doesn't necessarily clean up the bathrooms. It's hard because we really think it does.

We think overcoming something that has been rooted in our church families' DNA of tradition rewrites our own history. But just because we overcome the decade battle of removing a lamp or carpet color from the hallway doesn't necessarily make us more welcoming to new guests. It's a start.

In my honest opinion we have to stop treating the church like a trend if we want to see kingdom growth. Not simply numerical growth, but kingdom growth.

It seems like every church has a "thing"

The church with the cool building

The church with the good coffee

The church with the pretty people

The church with the wisdom

This idea of placing importance or even defining churches by trends is continually refocusing what the culture is to see it as. And as much as I love coffee and pretty people. As much I believe there is a comfy place in the church for both... we have to stop making these things our cornerstones.

Let's remember that God is enough. At the end of the day He is our reason. He doesn't run out like a pot of coffee or fade like beauty. He is full of wisdom.

If we believe God; if we experience him continually let's celebrate His work in our lives and spend ourselves (together) to show others how great He is.