Owning It

(Check out the blog from today before this one HERE for Alex's er story, and my letter to my husband for Father's Day HERE.)


Even the most amazing church has things they need to work on. We are all still human, so we're all still prone to making mistakes and having areas of weakness. The church being a body made up of all humans, would then naturally be that way too. So why is it that it's so hard for most churches to admit that they have places that need work? I truly believe that when churches ignore their problems, it only makes the unchurched's argument that we're all hypocrites stronger. It makes us seem unauthentic and not genuine. If we would only be willing to admit to ourselves and to the world that we're doing the best we can, but we don't that we don't have it exactly right ... we might see more people that would be willing to talk to us.

That being said, I am once again impressed with the church we attend. There's a problem at our church ... we're just not growing. It's not that we're not genuine in our faith and our beliefs because we are. It's not that we don't have a passion for lost souls; we do -- we support and attend missions throughout the world. The problem is that we are so focused on taking care of each other, loving on each other, and meeting the needs of those we already have, that we don't pay as much attention as we should to those that aren't a part of our congregation.

Most churches would spend their time patting themselves on the back for taking such good care of their own. And we are proud of that. Most churches would pretend that this isn't a problem. But it is. And if this problem was addressed in most churches, it would be by the elders and ministers sitting down and forming a plan to correct it. Which we are doing -- sort of.

Sunday mornings our preacher is spending his time preaching about church growth and how it relates to us directly. He's being real, and honest, and not sugar-coating things. Sometimes, that hurts. But that doesn't mean that it's not necessary. Afterwards, on Sunday nights we've been having "round table discussions". As a church, we're identifying the problems -- everyone has a voice. We're brainstorming solutions -- again, everyone has a voice. And then people are volunteering to be part of a team that solves that problem using the general consensus of the members.



I'm not sure that I've ever been a part of a congregation that was so real and open. It's refreshing to see them latch ahold of this problem, and own that this is who they are, but that it needs to change. And it's personally inspiring to me.


I want to be a person that when faced with a problem, I own it. I own that I'm not perfect, that I can't be perfect, but that I'm doing the best I can. And then I want to be honest with myself enough that I can brainstorm solutions so that I can create a plan of action and implement it.

Right now, I'm owning that I don't spend enough time in the Bible. I hunger for more time with God, and I'm willing to admit that the only thing that keeps me from that is me. Now, that's not saying that I don't have perfectly good excuses for, but in the end, they're just that -- excuses. So I'm making a plan -- to turn off all sounds and clear the table, and spend 30 minutes reading and praying every evening once the kids are in bed. Instead of switching straight into "get ready for the next day" mode, after they're asleep, I need to set aside time for me to really concentrate and on my relationship with God.


What do you need to own? Do you have a plan for responding to that?