To avoid wasting your fellow freeper’s time, please put (satire) or (humor) in the headline. It’s really not very nice to do this.
a local church is SUPPOSED to be a “local Christian community”
and a “community” implies those who are part of the community CONTRIBUTE to that which that community is, not just feed off of it for their own selfish ends and give little of themselves in return
yes $$$$ is PART of that as many things have to be paid for with money, but it is not just $$$$ it’s also about participation and commitment, if you accept it is YOUR community and you want it to succeed.
IF the individual church-based communities were stronger communities on their own, and with their own, the local population among them would be less seekers after big government support that is the case otherwise.
It’s always funny to me that many of the fringe “Christian” groups (”Christian by their own self-definition though not always accepted as Christian by a majority of Christians) are often called “cults” but often have a higher % of fully participating members, have the most independence from welfare & the like and maximize “charity begins at home” within their own community BETTER than most large Christian denominations and groups.
I think that no matter are the pros and cons of any “mega” church and no matter the pros and cons of its theology, the leaders of the church in the article are hitting on a truth - if you are part of a church then BE a part of it, not just a face in it’s pews.
If WalMart started a church...
We have an AWANA’s program at our church for children and youth on Wednesday evenings. We have had several families that would come by every couple of weeks or so, drop off their kids and leave. They were not members of our church or anything. Finally it came out that these parents were using our AWANA’s to basically babysit their kids for free while they went to a movie, out to dinner, etc. They were not members of our church and some were not even members of any other church. Just actually “freeloading” free child care so they could have a night out on us. The kids actually told some of this stuff. These people did not give money to help pay for these programs either. That is something that our offerings pay for. They just used the church for free stuff. If you are a member of a church you should volunteer for your church. Christ requires us to work for your church. Showing up and not doing anything for your church in service is wrong.
And the letter came from the church's Department of Redundancy Department.
That’s a church? Looks like a strip mall to me.
Oooooooo...I just got a letter from the pastor asking me why I haven’t joined yet! Perhaps this is a sign. :O)
This is satire, I hope.
“When your bottom line is saving souls, you get impatient with people who interfere with that goal,” he says.
Funny, I thought Jesus saved souls, not the church.