McFaith

Our new message series starting August 12 is called "McFaith." The Key Three of Pathway Community Church are Real Spirituality, Real Community, and Real Story--these are the things we need to do to be effective, faithful, and fruitful as a church. But lately I've been thinking about what derails churches and turns people away from Christ, and I think it's the doppelganger cousins of these three core values--McSpirituality, McCommunity, and McStory.

You see, people can spot a counterfeit a mile away. People know when our words and our lives don't line up. And this is not so much about whether or not we are perfect; the world isn't looking for perfect people (they know that's a stupid thing to look for). It's not about whether or not we meet our own standards because nobody meets their own standards; everyone, by their own admission, is sometimes selfish, dishonest, irresponsible, lazy, or whatever.

This McFaith series is about pretending to be perfect when we're not. It's about pretending to have it all together when we don't. It's about arrogating to ourselves the responsibility to tell everyone else what's wrong with their lives, when we're having plenty of trouble with our own. People hate that. I hate that. God hates that. It's ugly and repellent.

There is a counterfeit faith that is running rampant in contemporary American Christianity, and we have to stamp it out. It is a spirituality that is all knowledge and no deeds. It is a community that is self-centered, self-serving, and self-absorbed. It is a story that is arrogant, condescending, and rude, when it even gets told at all.

This is not the faith that Jesus calls us to, and it is not acceptable for his people. We need the real stuff, not McFaith. That junk-food faith won't feed us, won't nourish us, won't satisfy us. It will only make us fat and unattractive. Let's get ourselves set to enjoy Real Spirituality, Real Community, and Real Story!