I think the person who posted this is from the UK, but the analogy still fits (in my opinion). Anyway, the post is called “Emerging Church and All That.”
Sometimes I want off the ship…other times I want to help others find the lifeboats.
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When I first entered the ministry, another pastor told me that you can’t knock out the dents of a can from the outside. You must be on the inside to be effective in knocking out the dents.
The only problem with this analogy is that I entered ministry to help people, not fix the broken can. The other problem is that dents usually occur from an outside source. That doesn’t seem to be the problem with the church today. It is imploding - destroying itself from the inside, out.
Comment by Curt — June 13, 2005 @ 1:44 pm
I used to use this same image, however, now the image of what I do has changed. Now, I see myself more as someone who is trying to show others a “better” or “different” way. I love the quote from C. S. Lewis:
Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Ah…yes, we are too easily pleased. So now, I’m trying to communicate to others (playing in the mud) what Holiday is offered to them.
I’m not sure I would say the “church” is imploding. Yes, there are some dysfunctional churches, however, the Church is God’s vehicle. Some have given up on it, yet, it is the place for community for God’s people.
Comment by Administrator — June 14, 2005 @ 10:28 pm