What is wrong with church now?

I would like to start off by saying that the established church has done great things for our communities, country, and world and will continue to do so for many years. With that said, one extremely lacking aspect of the traditional Christian religion is teaching people to live a life as a follower of Jesus. Church attendees simply go through the motions of religion with no life altering experiences. We can learn about Jesus, go to Sunday school, and attend a Bible study but actually living a life like Jesus and portraying ourselves as true Christians in our communities are things we have failed to do.


To put this in perspective I will attempt to make a modern parallel: If I were to buy a Coca-cola t-shirt, purchase common stock of the Coke corporation, hit the “Like” button for the Facebook page of said company, and even go as far as purchasing the actual drink itself but never actually taking a drink of the beverage, why would I invest my time, money, and brand loyalty to something that I don’t really partake in? Going to church, tithing, and cooking for the quarterly spaghetti dinners are all motions that we go through with but our daily lives do not accurately reflect these weekend rituals. Through our time spent at church we are taught to love one another as we would want to be loved and to share your harvest with your neighbor but when we recluse back to our man/woman caves we forget the teachings from church and remain focused on ourselves.

Have a Coke, enjoy it, and while you are at it, grab me one too.  True ministry in our communities is what God is calling us to do and unless we “pop the top” and “take a big swig” we have not fulfilled our calling.  The modern church can only do so much to influence us as Christians to actively minister to others so we must take the initiative. The missional movement can only be achieved by believers and not the “church” as a whole. 

So how can the church change or improve to help people be missional? That is the ultimate question in modern ecclesiastical circles. [IMHO] I believe the church needs to start inside their own doors and be missional to the faithful parishioners, lay people, and worship leaders.  Once people in the church know what it is like to be accepted by a loving community of Christians, then they will be more apt to share that love with their neighbors.  This is not to say that individuals cannot go out on their own path and start ministries, but to have the support and resources of a larger congregation is why we have a church.