The Chruch

No, I did not fail to use spellcheck. The REVEAL survey highlighted that for far too many people the Church has become a crutch (aka Chruch) in their spiritual lives. Shame on those lazy saints! Oh wait, they're not the ones to blame. How long has the attractional church communicated: "come here and we'll supply all your spiritual needs"? Long enough that it is widespread for Christians to talk about whether or not their church "feeds them." But this language almost always appears in sentences like "I just wasn't getting fed there." Rodney Clapp, author of A Peculiar People, takes this mentality head on: Christians were taught that worship was preeminently their opportunity to be 'fed.' But it was rarely recognized that to be fed is to be infantilized. To say I go to church to be fed is the same as saying "I go to church so that I can act like a baby." Several months ago, speaking on this subject John Ortberg said "When you're young in faith, it is the church's responsibility to feed you. But there comes a point where you have to take off the bib, pick up a fork and feed yourself. Like the parent of a stymied 30something who kicks their kid out in hopes of sparking some ownership and growth, I wonder if the church doesn't need to remove the feeding tube from some of our "mature" but utterly dependent members. Maybe we church workers have indulged in the dependence of our members, when like emptynesters, we need to let our children go and grow up.