On the Offensive

Recently I built up a list of offenses with a group of people within my congregation. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I've been depressed and angry and that's been coloring the way I talk to people - not such a good thing. On the other hand, I'm told that no one is questioning my commitment to the truth, and that the things I preach have all been directly from the Bible. So if I tell people the truth, and they get offended, who is responsible for that?

I'm not trying to be flippant here. The fact is, even on my best behavior, I tend to offend people.

Wait a minute. That's not quite right. I mean, it's not like I offend everybody. I offend my fellow Christians. Not all of them, but quite a few of them.

I've been doing some pretty serious soul searching about this. I know there are times I say things that do not, perhaps, need to be said. There are also times that I say things that probably need to be said, but which no one really wants to hear. But I think the real issue is that my fellow believers don't like what I think. And what I think is that, while there are some profound exceptions, I find most of American Christianity to be a parody of genuine faith.

While some have found my observations of the modern church interesting or even exciting, others struggle with them. They find me judgmental and arrogant, I suppose. But it's not like I'm claiming to have done so much better. I'm really not all that impressed with us (the western church), in much the same way that the unchurched are not that impressed with us. This is not what a preacher is supposed to think in the American "evangelist as entertainer and cheerleader" church culture.

When I critique the church, some perceive it as church bashing. They feel like I'm undermining something that is dear to them. But I don't usually think of my comments as negative. If I criticize the way we are, it's usually because I believe we can be better - more Biblical, more Christlike, less worldly.

Still, this is not what many people expect of a preacher today. I'm not at all sure what to do about that.