Whether you agree or disagree with that statement, how you see the world and how you see the church will affect your assessment.  As one steeped in the work of the church, I can tell you that the values and preferences of our culture have done more than creep into the life of many churches.  In some cases, they have swept into churches setting a tone for the way things are done in terms of community and group life as well as worship.  And many of those churches have grown rapidly.

So… What does it mean to be the church and grow as we look at our future and the future of our world?  Could it be that part of our task is to guide people into a fuller life with God?  A classic understanding of our purpose is to help people know, enjoy and glorify God with their bodies, minds and spirits. And it is also to grow in wholeness as Christians, which invariably leads to building a healthier society and a more just world.  This is exactly the challenge of our current winter sermon series, “Journey Inward…Journey Outward: Spiritual Formation and Ethical Action in the Christian Life.”

The contemporary trend (which comes right out of our culture) that the church exists to help people feel good and be comfortable with themselves - while understandable - is anemic. To quote a friend of mine, “It fosters churches that feel like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.  It results in clergy without courage and congregations without challenge.”   

Can our task not be a better and more interesting one - to lead people into fellowship with God, with the re-forming of life that follows for all God’s children?  The great commandment of Christ says it’s simply and straightforwardly, we are to love God first and foremost - and secondly, to love our neighbor as our self. 

Putting God first means our feeling good, getting what we want, and being comfortable are not primary concerns within the community of faith.  The Neighborhood Church is about increasing the love of God and neighbor - and if our numbers increase in the process then we will be growing for the right reasons, rather than growing by merely accommodating people’s preferences and helping them to “feel good.” 

My hope and prayer is that we will be a church on the grow as we go with God, the One who fulfills our promise and potential and leads us into the unfolding future.

Blessings for the Journey,

Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister