Let's Be The Solution

Just read an article that said, “America is a less Christian nation than it was 20 years ago, and Christianity is not losing out to other religions, but primarily to a rejection of religion altogether.

Why is this? Why are we a generation or two away from being a pagan nation?

Has Christianity lost its relevance? The answer is a bold NO WAY!

Why? Because Jesus is relevant!!

Matthew 9:16-17
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”


Here is the point: God loves His bride - the Church. He cares about those older traditional churches (old wineskins) but He cares about the latter generations as well. I have friends in PA who were reaching a young group of kids. My friends didnt intend on starting a church. When they tried to bring the kids to the local church however, they didnt seem to fit. They felt uncomfortable and were quite honestly... bored and didnt see any significance in church attendance. This was the delemma at hand and they could 1) force the issue and continue bring the kids to a church they didnt like or 2) they could start something new - "a new wineskin".

When my friends thought this through, they realized that they were putting "new wine" into "old wineskins" which wasnt healthy for either. This has nothing to do with age per say...it has more to do with a mindset....a resistence to change.

Here is how Patrick J. Griffiths summarized one of his blog entries:
"New wine must be poured into new wineskins,’ not accommodated to those comfortable things in our lives with which it is basically incompatible. The message for disciples is to be uncompromising about our faith and the work of the Spirit in our lives. If our honored customs and habits, and the structures of our society must adjust to that, then so be it.”

To that I say Right On!!

Dont be afraid to try something new....something radical. Not the "oh no those people are fruitcakes" type radical ...but the "wow those people are making a difference" kind of radical : ) God has called you for such a time as this!!! When people see that you are real...when they see you want to make a difference....when they see that you are doing more than "playing church"....we can change their minds about Christians and Christianity.

Gotta go...I have plane to catch!