That they may be one
I have a theory of what is going on in the church today. 4% of my generation is actually attending a regular church service and claim christianity as their religion. This is compared to a 40-something-% of our parents' generation.
Many of our generation (1983 to the year 2000, as generation is defined by 18 years) really doesn't get the religion-thing very well. I think we get love, but not religion, routine of church for the sake of having a routine.
Jesus prayed for unity in his prayer in gethsemane. The one disciple who stayed awake during that time must have written that one down. His prayer "that they may be one". Look at Christianity on Wikipedia.com sometime and you can see that we have issues. Here's an example of what happened to the protestant church:
So, we have some family issues. As soon as denomination mom and dad have an issue, they get divorced. The kids have an argument about who sits where, they don't speak to one another any longer.
I think that a generation who desires true love, embraces our God-given differences and wants something deeper than routine is looking for a church that will do just those things: Love God, embrace each other and not be so concerned about the minor things. Even if we celebrate God under different roofs, our minds can still be one. We may be part of a generation that will reject church and anything related to God and religion for a time because of the woundedness and disgust from false religion, but maybe, after a time some of this generation will turn around with a new perspective where separation in our beliefs aren't as important as the similarities, and we become that final Generation that is spoken of.
Thanks for reading my rant. If nothing else: unity is the answer to Jesus' prayer. Through God's Love and strength, I want to be that answer.
Many of our generation (1983 to the year 2000, as generation is defined by 18 years) really doesn't get the religion-thing very well. I think we get love, but not religion, routine of church for the sake of having a routine.
Jesus prayed for unity in his prayer in gethsemane. The one disciple who stayed awake during that time must have written that one down. His prayer "that they may be one". Look at Christianity on Wikipedia.com sometime and you can see that we have issues. Here's an example of what happened to the protestant church:
So, we have some family issues. As soon as denomination mom and dad have an issue, they get divorced. The kids have an argument about who sits where, they don't speak to one another any longer.
I think that a generation who desires true love, embraces our God-given differences and wants something deeper than routine is looking for a church that will do just those things: Love God, embrace each other and not be so concerned about the minor things. Even if we celebrate God under different roofs, our minds can still be one. We may be part of a generation that will reject church and anything related to God and religion for a time because of the woundedness and disgust from false religion, but maybe, after a time some of this generation will turn around with a new perspective where separation in our beliefs aren't as important as the similarities, and we become that final Generation that is spoken of.
Thanks for reading my rant. If nothing else: unity is the answer to Jesus' prayer. Through God's Love and strength, I want to be that answer.
I liked your post. :)
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