Lenten Musings - 11

I must admit, I'm running out of steam with this whole blogging thing. I do enjoy it all, but it's actually pretty time consuming to read a chapter, think about it and then write something down. It's not like I had an extra hour kicking around that I wasn't using. I had to take that time from something else, and the only place that seems to work is sleep. But I suppose the point of being disciplined is to muscle through the tough parts until it becomes habit.

Mark 11
Verses 17- And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: " 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'[c]? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'
I was having a discussion with someone yesterday about the point of going to church. From this person's perspective, you can't know if there is a God, especially if He's not answering your prayers. And lots of Christians are jerks. So what is the point of going to church? It's unfortunate that people get such a bad view of God because of "the church". You look at this example where Jesus clears the temple, and you find that certain people had manipulated the temple to serve their purposes (making money). You find this in the church as well, and we all get a bad rap because of it. Really, the "some Christians are jerks and have done bad things" excuse is a pretty weak one. It's not just Christians, it's everyone. Of course, the difference is that we should know better. We are called to love and serve one another, and Jesus is pretty clear about how He expects us to behave towards others.
When we look at the church in other cultures, it's easy to point out the synchretism, or what they have blended into the church/theology. In some traditionally animistic cultures, you'll find bits and pieces of those traditional beliefs mixed in with the gospel. But I think that in North America, we have a big blind spot as to what we've woven into our theology. I think it's money and capitalism. "God wants you to be successful", we hear. You can go to the local Christian bookstore and there is an endless swathe of new books, and CD's, as well as trinkets for you to buy. All in the name of "ministry". Especially troubling, I find, is the "worship music industry". It's fine to make music, and to sell it, but that industry has had such a huge impact on the way the church worships, and in many ways the effects have not been positive. I could rant and rant, but my point is that too much of what goes on nowadays is more market driven than ministry driven, and I think this is exactly what Jesus was warning against as he cleared the temple.