A Relaxing Sunday

Sundays are, fortunately, almost always relaxing days for us. We usually don't do much until we go to the church assembly at 5:00 in the evening. Today, we had a lunch meeting but it was cancelled, so we worked on a translation project we are trying to finish this week. We ate the white chili I made late Saturday night after our Oktoberfest fiasco (I'm still reeling from that--and looking for a place with some good German food!).

I preached tonight and tried to help us see the human side of Peter in the transfiguration story. He just doesn't want to leave the safety of the mountain and face the suffering that following Christ will bring. It is easier to stay on the mountain. It's much easier to build a circle of Christian friends who have about the same beliefs you do, go to a church that rarely challenges you or makes you feel uncomfortable, where everybody has about the same income, speaks the same language, and is the same skin color. Yeah, it's much easier. But is it what Jesus wants for his people? Even in our little church here in Kyiv, I am tempted to just be with people who agree with me, who are like me, and who are strong Christians. But I guess the church would never grow if I did that. But isn't the American church plagued with this problem?

I read several blogs of ministers in US churches and many people are talking about how the church is to be "missional." But from all I can tell, it's mostly just a lot of talk. And if the leaders don't lead by example, will the church be any different?

34% of the US adult population doesn't go to any kind of church. See this Barna report for their analysis.