Unprotected Church

I'm convinced that most Christians in America are scared to death of unprotected church and that what North American churches have evolved into are nothing more than one big giant condom of protection so we can have safe church. We are so worried about sin tainted distractions that we have put up barriers between the church and the world to make sure we safely satisfy ourselves. And boy, are we satisfied.

We are so afraid of infection that we insist on having our own everything so that we can be in control. We won't join the community soup kitchen (unless of course it is run by a church) so we start our own. We won't join the community athletic leagues so we start our own. We won't send our kids to public schools so we start our own. We won't set foot in a bar so we start our own and call it a cafe, with no alcohol of course. We love safe church.

In the middle of all this we still talk about casting seed and hoping that some of it will land on fertile ground. Just so you know, those barriers work both ways.

Unprotected church, on the other hand, is wild and risky. You can end up battered, bruised, spat on, kicked around and betrayed not only by the world but even by those who you thought were your friends. It could kill you. Demographics are only used to find sinners so that you can live with them, not so you can avoid them. You don't root yourself to one location, you hit the streets. It is just not safe. But it is the only way you'll be able to plant a seed.