Bret Laird

I See Church People Bret Laird

Church, for me, has become a feeling of sickness that isn't going away! The more I see in this church world I've lived in-now have been away from-and the journey I am on, the more I realize that church communities, and many Christians alike, have either lost sight of, or just blindly follow, their church/religion without understanding what the church is really supposed to be. Henceforth, that's why I've adopted my version of a popularized film catchphrase "I see church people" (if you've ever seen the movie Sixth Sense, this equates with what the basis of the movie is about: "I see dead people"). To put it simply, I firmly believe the church as we know it is becoming dead to society, and for many Christians as well. I believe all of this is leading most churches to the beginning of a dying church. Slow death by overchurching, overreaching, being overly busy-maintaining the machine of what this is becoming. We believe we are doing the right things, feeding our souls, self-medicating with song and message and then going home, waiting to do it all over again the following Sunday. We've created this false world that has taken the reality of what God intended, and made it this unreal, false way of living this so-called Christian life. We talk out of both sides of our mouths, contradicting ourselves in trying to convey a message that Jesus never intended. Jesus had a simple message that we've made complex, mainly because of theological knowledge that has infiltrated the mind of a generation. This theological knowledge has been handed down generation after generation into a tradition that less resembles Christ, and more resembles a Sadducee or Pharisee mind-set. We think we know something. Church, being the Body of Christ is not about Sunday Mornings. It's about "Serving The World Right Outside Our Door."I believe that this book pertains to all ages whether you're churched or not. But, I feel the locked in churched people, pastors, leaders, priest and so on are the ones that this will challenge the most. Specially those locked in tradition, familiarity, routine and sameness. Even though it will be challenging to all.