{"id":19531,"date":"2013-07-03T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=19531"},"modified":"2013-07-05T08:04:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T16:04:13","slug":"church-is-badly-broken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/","title":{"rendered":"Church is Badly Broken"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"GlennThis is a guest post from Glenn Hager.<\/p>\n

Glenn writes at GlennHager.com<\/a>\u00a0and sees himself as\u00a0an advocate for those who on the fringes of society and those challenge the way things are done. You may also connect with Glenn on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you would like to write a Guest Post for the Till He Comes Blog, begin by reading the Guest Blogger Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I have tried to distill my observations about the church over the last few years into a few bullet points, both to help myself understand what I have been through and to see if any of these conclusions resonate with anyone else.<\/p>\n

Church is badly broken<\/h2>\n

\"churchFollowing Christ has wrongly become equated with supporting an organization that has to be feed with increased attendance, volunteers, and funding.<\/p>\n

We have misrepresented Christ with our eagerness to call out sin in society while ignoring the sin of our unloving ways.<\/p>\n

We are an insider organization that focuses on ourselves, except (or especially) when we try to get outsiders to come to our building and become like us.<\/p>\n

We have been talkers and not doers who have had minimal impact on the lives and communities around us.<\/p>\n

The Church is bleeding people like crazy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because they have been disappointed so many times, people distrust organizations and leaders.<\/p>\n

When honest questions are unwelcomed or glibly rebutted, people become dissatisfied.<\/p>\n

When so-called ministry is reduced to a performance and packaged programs, people feel like a consumer or cog in a machine.<\/p>\n

Religious service attendance has slipped from 32% (1975) to 24% (2008). America\u2019s third largest group now is \u201cnone,\u201d somewhere between 16 and 20 percent of our population. In 1960, this group didn\u2019t even register on the polls. It is projected that \u201cnones\u201d and adherents of other religions will outnumber Christians in the United States by 2042.<\/p>\n

A lot of people who embrace Jesus are trying to \u201cbe the church\u201d without any affiliation with an actual organization.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All local churches are organizations with the need for authority structures, finances, volunteers, and programming.<\/p>\n

Alternative churches that are \u201csuccessful\u201d will confront these same issues, characteristics that its participants were probably turning from.<\/p>\n

Starting something new will eventually cause you to wind up at the same place with the same \u201corganizational issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trying to \u201cbe the church\u201d or simply living life loving Jesus is a legitimate alternative that a lot of people have turned to.<\/p>\n

I wonder, is there something more?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cbeing the church\u201d approach gives us the opportunity to live a more integrated life in which faith and life are more completely blended and that feels very real and refreshing.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, at times it feels to me like it is a little incomplete. Maybe, I am still \u201cdetoxing\u201d from all of those years I was a pastor or maybe there will be some exciting new ways to be the church that have yet to be revealed.<\/p>\n

So, what do you think? Let me know in the comment section below.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a Guest Post on my blog from Glenn Hager. He knows that church is broken, and tries to figure out what to do about it. Church is badly broken. But is organic church and trying to be the church really the answer? Maybe it is just an excuse. Glenn Hager writes his thoughts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1341,1339,1235,1336,1342,1340],"class_list":{"0":"post-19531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-be-the-church","8":"tag-broken","9":"tag-church","10":"tag-guest-post","11":"tag-nones","12":"tag-organic-church","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nChurch is Badly Broken<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Church is badly broken. But is organic church and trying to be the church really the answer? Maybe it is just an excuse. Glenn Hager writes his thoughts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Church is Badly Broken\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Church is badly broken. But is organic church and trying to be the church really the answer? Maybe it is just an excuse. Glenn Hager writes his thoughts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-03T17:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-05T16:04:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"299\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"Church is Badly Broken\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-03T17:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-05T16:04:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/\"},\"wordCount\":498,\"commentCount\":26,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"be the church\",\"broken\",\"church\",\"guest post\",\"nones\",\"organic church\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/\",\"name\":\"Church is Badly Broken\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-03T17:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-05T16:04:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"Church is badly broken. But is organic church and trying to be the church really the answer? Maybe it is just an excuse. Glenn Hager writes his thoughts.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg\",\"width\":299,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"church is broken\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Church is Badly Broken\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Church is Badly Broken","description":"Church is badly broken. But is organic church and trying to be the church really the answer? Maybe it is just an excuse. Glenn Hager writes his thoughts.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Church is Badly Broken","og_description":"Church is badly broken. But is organic church and trying to be the church really the answer? Maybe it is just an excuse. Glenn Hager writes his thoughts.","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2013-07-03T17:00:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-07-05T16:04:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":299,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"Church is Badly Broken","datePublished":"2013-07-03T17:00:06+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-05T16:04:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/"},"wordCount":498,"commentCount":26,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg","keywords":["be the church","broken","church","guest post","nones","organic church"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/","name":"Church is Badly Broken","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg","datePublished":"2013-07-03T17:00:06+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-05T16:04:13+00:00","description":"Church is badly broken. But is organic church and trying to be the church really the answer? Maybe it is just an excuse. Glenn Hager writes his thoughts.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Broken-church.jpg","width":299,"height":400,"caption":"church is broken"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/church-is-badly-broken\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Church is Badly Broken"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}