A SEISMIC SHIFT IN HOW WE "DO" CHURCH.

The shift in the continental plates off Japan and the resulting tsunami could be taken as a physical representation of what I think God is doing in His church at this time. The charismatic "schmooz" of the 80's and 90's  - the soft rock, stage focused, celebrity minister, zhoozhy church, congregant focused, consumer oriented ministries - has been perpetuated by us well into the 2010's in a consummately self-indulgent way. We are more interested in what the church can do for us than we are about the estimated 91% of the population (UK figures) that are staying away from church in their droves on any given Sunday. I think God is putting a tsunami in the hearts of many leaders to wash away the old habitual ruts that we are barely conscious of any more, and replace them with a church that is freshly conscious of reaching the lost.
A great exercise in this regard is to try and see your church through the eyes of any self-respecting pagan; from parking in your car park until they return to their car after the meeting. I have tried to remember what it was like for me as an unsaved young man. I can remember feeling sweaty with unease as I entered an environment where I had no clue of what was going on and what I was supposed to do when.
We have got to make our meetings friendly to the 91%. We don't have to dumb down the spirituality of our meetings, just explain it better and give the 91% the feeling that they are thought of and can find our meetings acccessable. e.g. before prophetic words are given we could preface them by saying, "The Bible describes how God impresses on people something that He wants to communicate to His gathered church. The Bible calls this prophecy. Here's Joe and he would like to share with us what God has impressed on him to communicate to us all."
Every one of us in the church should be missional every day. To me, the best definition of being missional comes from Allan Scott, Causeway Vineyard, Ireland - "moving towards the lost and moving the lost towards Jesus."
More to come on the subject....!