Have you seen this Bill
Hybels lecture on how Willow Creek's strategy for maturing Christians has been wrong all these years? It's a great discovery...but, the video disturbed me a little.
http://revealnow.com/story.asp?storyid=49I'll start with the Greg Hawkins interview (the pastor who discovered this problem at Willow Creek). Here's a quote:
"And I sit there Sunday after Sunday and I wonder, are we spending those folks money in the right way? Really...would they feel
great about how we're investing their resources?"
I understand the need to be good steward of the money God trusts us with. But, really, the standard here seems a little fishy to me. I know I'm bordering on
judgmentalness and over-analysing a single two and a half sentences...isn't there a bit of an overemphasis on the people in the pew? Should our motivation stem from the fact that we're misusing money...or, even better/worse...because people wouldn't "feel great" about how we're spending their money? Something seems awry here...shouldn't a church be wondering: How does God feel about how we're spending
His money? What does the Bible indicate I should do with the money? These are
oversimplistic questions...but, I don't get the vibe that Greg Hawkins started with anything except wondering how he could give people more bang for their buck.
Here's what I like, though. I like a big church admitting that they made a big mistake...I like the fact that they aren't trying to hide anything. I like the fact that the crowd applauds when he says: "...we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become self-feeders."
I'd like to be optimistic because I think
Hybels hits the nail on the head with the problem...people are relying on the church too much and not learning how to grow on their own. But, the solution to the problem - a health club style discipleship program? - seems like more of the same to me.