I was out and about with my wife one time and we came across a church brochure.  I love church brochures.  They are highly reflective of how the church views its mission and how the church sees its purpose in the community.

Before I commence with the comments, let me be clear in saying that I do not believe this is a bad church.

I do believe, however, that their brochure is aiming at the wrong target.  And I don’t think they are alone.  I think there are thousands of churches today trying to change the way people think about church.  They do cool new programs.  They do awesome new outreaches.  They have live rockin bands.  They advertise incessantly about how they are there to be “real”, “authentic”, “relevant”, “not like your Grandma’s church”, etc etc.  They want you to come to their church because they’re trying to convince you that your church has become passe….

BUT, unfortunately, we’re not here as a church to change the way people think about church.  We’re here to change the way people think about God and His Son Jesus.  We’re here to change the way people think about themselves.  But even more than that, we’re here to tell people that we don’t change anybody.  And that they can’t change themselves.  God, by His infinite love, mercy, and grace is the only one who can change them.

And as I think about that I wonder:  What if the problem is that we’re getting people to focus more on ways of doing church than who Jesus is?   Could it be that we might be producing people who love to rock out to cool new bands, hang out in small groups, take communion by candlelight, and have coffee before they walk into service but they still don’t understand the power of the Gospel and how it can transform their soul, their sinful state before God, their marriage, their parenting, their sexuality, their outlook on their job, their compassion for the poor, their love for widows and orphans?

Could it be that we’ve truly succeeded in aiming people at the wrong target?