From The Desk of David

This isn’t meant to be a shoutout, but it will be. God has blessed me with incredible mentors (they know who they are). They’ve been pushing me not only as a leader but as a man and as a follower of Christ for a while now, but I’ve been a little stubborn (shocker, I know. 😂) to listen, but lately, God has been talking to me about how I need to stop being so “stuck in my head” and think about how my prideful heart can get in the way of a heavenly perspective of my life and where God has me right now. So, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting, and I’ve been reflecting a lot on the Sermon on The Mount, probably because our church is going through it. But I’ve been thinking a lot about ministry and scripture from a modern perspective in correlation with this “good life” that Jesus preaches about in the Beatitudes (one of my favorite New Testament passages, and I did major in the NT 😂), but I’ve been thinking a lot. But for the past year and a half, I’ve gotten to “observe” the next generation. And I’ve come to a bit “thought” that as I’ve been writing and “processing,” I’ve come up with a “long-winded rant” that I wanted to share on my blog because what is this website even for if not share what God is doing within my own heart? This post is more of a “marking a moment in my life” and more of a “confession” than anything it is. As I’ve been convicted, I realize how prideful I can be. So, the following is written with the least amount of pride possible and just a new perspective I’m learning. So here it is:

“I’m convinced that the “mega-church model” might have “deeply wounded itself” (and probably created the deconstructionism crisis the church is facing) by creating “satellite campuses.” You need a preacher physically in the room for a church service because you can’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit through a screen. And yes, I know the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. Still, I wonder if, as we might broadcast a message through a 2d image, we’ve accidentally developed a culture of consumerism in Christianity because if they can watch a preacher on a screen, why can’t they watch worship on a screen? And if watching is how we “encounter God,” then why can’t we do it from the comfort and convenience of pbjs/breakfast as a family/watching from home? And people won’t give to where they don’t see value. Gen Z is the most charitable generation yet. So I wonder if the reason the church is struggling to reach our world and if the next generation no longer finds the “Blessed life” promised by Jesus because they “should” (Covid can be blamed here a bit) only “need to encounter God” once a week,” often through a screen” to find the “Blessed life” promised? And when nothing can “fulfill their hearts (like the Holy Spirit can), then “we” (the American church) are the biggest idiots and should be ashamed of ourselves because we know it’s a personal and intimate relationship that saves people, not anything outside of it.”

-David