waking up

I would say that I have been in a state of waking up for about the last three years. My first trip here two and a half years ago only verified what was already happening in me. I would not say that I am awake, as this journey is a growth process and I don't believe we are ever fully awake. What do I mean about awakening? That the church as we know it (regardless of your denomination of choice) is seriously in a dream state if they think that filling the pews, thithing, practicing strict tradition, and merely talking about change and being Jesus, is guaranteeing their salvation. What I just described is "going to church" not "being the church". As much as fellowship is important, I know few people that "are the church" outside of the four walls of the building. Why have we reduced church into four walls, and why were walls ever built in the first place? If anything, this only solidifies our mistaken mentality that church is confined to a place we meet. And, yes, I am going to say it, whether you want to believe it or not, the Church of Christ is a denomination. Maybe not in the technical definition, but I would have to challenge the idea that it is not segregated out just as any other with our blurred views of tradition and legalism. I recently heard this analogy: "The difference between a philosopher and a theologian is that a philosopher is like a blind man in a dark alley looking for a black cat that doesn't exist, while a theologian is like a blind man in a dark alley looking for a black cat that doesn't exist, but thinks he's found it". Oy vey, if this doesn't describe the Christians that the world considers us to be! My challenge to you is to read and live what you read. The Bible of course, but we seem to somehow miss what it says about how we should live. So, I also have some recommended reading. To most of you I have already recommended "Messy Spirituality", by Mike Yaconelli, read it first if you haven't already. From there, I recommend "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne. This is not to say that I am suggesting we should all be and live exactly the same way. As the book points out, we all have our talents and contributions, but we need to find our own revolution and live it instead of sitting in this dream state of "being a good Christian". This revolution I speak of is only radical to what the church has become, it is not radical to Jesus or what He intended the church to be.