Blue like jazz CH 12. -- What sucks about church?

When I was growing up I (my family) was part of a few churches that kind of turned me off to Christianity by the way they represented it. Because of this, I never felt like the church as a whole related to me in any other way than a militarized father figure. I felt like I had to fit into this straight laced model, of which was connotative of a perfect American Christian life. I always felt inferior to older generations like they held over my head the fact that I was "the younger species".
This kind of expression seems still very prevalent in our world today. You see it all over in jobs, church, government, school, etc. Somewhere in our growth as a society we have decided that this is a standard: "The older I get, the more you have to obey everything I say". Does this sound like a bad idea to anyone else? There is the sense that because someone is older in age, they are always right. There is no questioning authority and there is no room for development of ideas that go against the rooted ideas of an older generation. It makes life hard...and it makes it miserable for the know-it-all older generation. There needs to be a mutual respectfulness with everyone. What is crazy is that not all older generation people are like this. Some really buck this system of thought. That is what got me thinking..."If a person, who is obviously part of the older crew, doesn't agree with this older-is-always-right group, than maybe this idea of hirerarchy is somewhat flawed or misdirected from the origninal idea".
I have a few friends who are part of this older generation and you would probably never know that, except for the gray hair and the beginning wrinkles. These people have discovered that their experience does not give them power to control the younger generations, it gives them the responsibility to serve the young ones. On the opposite side, the young generations have the responsibility to learn form the old one's mistakes, victories, and perspectives. The key is pure humilty... defined as "having God's perspective of who you are". Being humble means being exactly who God has designed you, personally, to be...in sucess and in failings.

Alright now listen to this... this idea should also be integrated into the church community. The older we get in our relationship with Jesus, the more responsibility we have to serve the young ones. We shouldn't have this settled feeling that we have somehow "arrived", but we should use our experience to support people who are just beginning their discovery of God. This needs to be constant. Church isn't exclusively about showing up and getting something, it is about showing and letting God use us in the present situation and the present need. We should shy away from thinking that we somehow we have this right to state "how it is" to people. We, as a church, need to be available to share our lives with people and model Jesus to people.


Consider these questions:
1. What sucks about church and what is good about church?
2. Talk about some things that you struggle with as far as judging or having hard feelings about
churches you have been too or churches you used to attend.
3. How does God reach different people through different churches (stylistically, demographically,
etc.)? How important is it to have different churches?
5. What are some of your ideas for bridging generation gaps in your church?
4. In what ways should a church represent a family?
5. Name some good ways of connecting with people in church and for developing relationships in
respect to this “family” idea.
6. Name some things that you believe would make church better