The Sleeping Giant

I have some friends who have dropped out of church. As I've visited with them about it, they've informed me that they are protesting the entire "American church culture."

They are not alone in this assessment. George Barna, in his new book, Revolution, seems to say the same thing. He doesn't put it out there quite as strongly as my disillusioned friends -- but he has to sell books to pastors.

In many ways, I can relate with what they're saying. The church in America is like a sleeping giant. Or, as in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a giant that has been petrified.

Just think what could happen, if the giant would be resurrected from the long sleep!

The church in America has the resouces and volunteer power to totally transform the entire society -- to feed the hungry, to clothe the poor, to rehabilitate the wayward, to meet the deepest needs of society. In the power of God, The Church Could Change the World!

Yet, that's not the way it generally works in a community. Churches often end up cocooning as a culture unto themselves. (A couple of positive signs, however, lie in the Hurricane Katrina Response, and the recent rallying of evangelicals to combat aids.)

The problem isn't the resources -- but the heart and the vision.

We need a New Great Awakening!

In mideival times, a churchman was giving a tour of his newly constructed cathedral to a friend. "The church can no longer say, silver and gold have I none!", he boasted.
"That's true," his friend replied, "and it also can no longer say, "But such as I have I give unto you."