What shirt will you wear?

Facebook reminded me this morning that I shared THIS CARTOON one year ago today.

I really appreciated this a year ago. Still appreciate it today. As the data continues to flow in, those that work to discern God's dream for the church are seeing this shift. And led by the Holy Spirit, they are living the Gospel in unique and inviting ways that are making the church healthier than it has been for some time.

However, healthy today is not the same understanding of healthy 20, 30 or 50 years ago. Our foreparents in the faith lived in a very different time and the institution that we have created (and call the church) was different for them than it is for us today.

Jesus' message is still the same. Yet, over the years, some have drifted away from that message, contorted it to meet their own needs and in turn, have hurt others and hurt the church. It's up to us, those of us who love Jesus AND love the church to live the truth of the Gospel and work to prevent those that have been (are) causing harm from continuing to do so.

Christianity is not dying.
The church is not dying.

Do you know why? Because Jesus lives! His teachings are just as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago... maybe even more relevant.

What has changed? We have. Our desire to live independently as opposed to living within community. Our need for self-gratification as opposed to caring for the needs of others. Our self-centered, self-motivated living is counter to the Christian Gospel.

And that is what needs to change. That is what needs to die.

And then our faith, our lives... and just maybe the church... will be reborn...will be resurrected!

Have we gone so far as to stop believing in the God we worship and God's ability to make all things new?

Perhaps we're content worshiping a God that is made in our image... one that suits our needs, our desires...instead of worshiping the God who created all things, the God who re-creates still, the God who made US in God's image. Imago Dei!

If we do nothing, the church WILL die. It's like the wisdom shared by my childhood dentist in regard to my teeth; "If you ignore them... they'll go away." If we ignore the church...it will go away.

My sense is that not one of us want to simply do nothing. We want the church to exist. What we need to determine is for what purpose? Do we want the church to simply exist to meet our own needs? To be our private/primary social circle? To allow us positions of power that we couldn't (perhaps shouldn't) be invited to anywhere else in the community?

Or do we believe in the institution that was created to work collectively, meeting the needs of those in the world who lack the resources for daily living that we hold abundantly?

Make a decision!

If you want to call yourself a Christian, then put on the "Christian" shirt and invest yourself, your life in living Christ's Gospel.

Or...

Move aside. Align yourself more truthfully with the organizations in the world that will meet your needs. And let those of us who trust in God's Spirit guiding us to lead the way and bring about the change in the world to which God is calling us.

Step aside and let those whose hearts are filled with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ be about the work of the church. Watch from a distance if you must. And then when/if you are ready... ready to die to self and to get out of God's way, come back and join in the ministry to which Jesus points us.

But all in all, be truthful... truthful to yourself and truthful to God.

Where do you align yourself? What shirt will you wear from this day forward?