This article may be what it takes to extract me from my self-imposed blogging exile.

I’m almost ashamed that the author and I receive paychecks from the same company. If you are so inclined, read it, but be prepared to be underwhelmed by the lack of clear thinking, logic, and plain common sense.

Anyway, before even reading the article, I had been thinking a lot about the idea of church recently. For a lot of reasons, it’s been on my mind. I find my self oddly struck by the fixation that so many people have with a relatively rigid notion of what church — or perhaps more specifically “the Church” — is supposed to look like. People tend to have these real deep-seeded notions about things like authority and structure and vision.

I’ve been a part of 5 churches in my life. Each of them was, at the same time, both beautiful and tragically flawed. In most cases, the flaws seemed to become larger and more profound over time. That might have just been my perception, but in at least 2 of the cases, those flaws lead to my departure.

I don’t take church membership lightly. By my nature, I’m a terribly loyal person. I don’t “give up” on things easily. However, I continue to be amazed at how church membership is often perceived as a one-way street by the leaders of a church. It’s as if when membership is bestowed upon a person, it’s a lifelong sentence that’s immutable and interminable. There’s an underlying presumption that the vows made when one joins a church apply only to that person. Too often, I’ve found that churches do a poor job upholding their end of the deal.

Too often, I’ve seen authority wielded like a club, used to beat people into submission. I see leaders abuse their power and confuse their own haughty ambitions with the true mission of the church. I’ve seen churches turned into mini-corporations, with all the tools of corporate America employed to achieve some artificial goal of attendance or giving or “commitments to Christ.” I’ve seen gifted people, Godly people, hurting people, and too often, new believers, driven out of churches because they don’t fit into the tidy notions of what that church is all about.

I’ve become weary of these kinds of churches and these kinds of leaders. If I never hear about another “vision statement” ever again, I’d be especially happy.

How about going into all the world and making disciples? How about equipping the saints for ministry? How about taking care of the poor, the hurting, the lonely, the brokenhearted, the hungry, the lost? How about not micro-managing and scrutinizing that list of people into endless patronizing programs and items on an annual church budget? How about worshiping God with a sense of true devotion and calling? How about preaching His Word in a way that will move people to seek His will in their lives in a profound way?

Again, perhaps I’m just weary, but there sure seems to be a lot to be weary about these days.

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