ekklesia.

I don't know what it is about us young folk that creates a near phobia of the word "church," especially much of the crowd I tend to run with, and I think many people have been there in general. It's just one of those words I wish could start over and do what I do on a bad day, just go back to sleep, wake up, take a shower, and start the day again... it usually works wonders. But, seeing as how culture, and unfortunately, even the church itself continues to taint the meaning of the term, I suppose we're left with a bit of a predicament. 

Sure, we can call it different things if we want, but eventually we all end up talking about 'going to church.'

Maybe the best approach is to start changing the body, and let the word follow in step.  Let's start living love and being genuine in the interactions we have with people around us, people who are members of the body and especially people who are not. Let's surprise someone with our grace, our kindness, our mercy, and our self control... not because we brag about it, but because they can't help but notice. Maybe if the body of Christ looked like that, we wouldn't be so embarrassed to be a part of the church. Maybe the widely touted, yet disappointing, minority of televangelism scandal and right wing radicalism would began to wane in the waxing light of Truth.

Henri Nouwen writes in Working the Angles about the ease with which many pastors are able to 'fake it' as true spiritual leaders in their respective congregations, and I think, in many ways, it's starting to show in so many communities.  Years of lost and broken people following shallow leaders who are ministering out of routine has caused a rift in the church between an active pursuit of Christ and "being a Christian" (another tainted term).  

I'm not sure where it went wrong, but so many of us have seen it. We all know a pastor or two who seem to have gotten into ministry for all the right reasons and ended up sticking with it because they were either unqualified to do anything else, or it's just the only thing they knew to do with themselves.

Now, I don't say any of this out of self-righteousness or to say I have never fallen victim to the very same foe, but only to draw attention to one of the silent killers of Christian culture. We must all keep in mind the ways in which Satan will subvert our good intentions in order to thwart God's good work on earth. Therefore, we must accept a call to stretch beyond easy ministry and strive for something that is much more inconvenient. And I'm not even sure I have the words for what that is, but it has something to do with truth, passion, discipline, and prayer.

Let us keep working until we are truly one body before God with one passion and purpose, to be like Christ and actively participate in his kingdom.