62 pages, 20,588 words, 106,703 characters = World's Longest iChat convo. I'll be the first to admit... this is a bit excessive.  It's always good talking to Tyler but today was absolutely insane.  We were discussing the Church.. a topic that comes up quite often in our relationship.  Actually, we were discussing a book he's reading but the only problem is that I've never read it.  Needless to say, it made for interesting debate.  I mean, can you imagine a book club where not everyone is on the same page... literally.  Anyway, the conversation centered around what it would take for the Church to redeem her cultural voice in the world and we were tackling some of the hurdles that roadblock this from becoming reality.

He made an interesting statement... "There are issues that are keeping others from seeing who we are but I'm talking about issues that are keeping us from being what God intended."  One deals with external issues we have no control over like how the world views us in light of abuse scandals or out-of-touch Christian subcultures... and the other deals with things we do have the power to change.

The Church is not a business.  It's not an organization, it is a living, breathing organism.  We need to take more risks instead of playing it safe.  To quote my favorite street artist, Banksy, in reference to all the Che Guevara paraphernalia that abounds...

People always seem to think if they dress like a revolutionary they don't actually have to behave like one.

It takes courage to embrace the change that creates a new future in the Church.  A future that includes being a voice across a spectrum of spheres and not just the religion/spiritual one. 

It takes courage to give radical grace to the sinner instead of judgment... It takes courage to open up oneself to walk in authenticity instead of masking to keep up appearances... it takes courage to engage honest dialogue about real issues...  It takes courage to engage culture instead of attacking it... and to sum up (in my words not his) Tyler's perspective, it takes courage to lead the way through New Testament models instead of merely following by adopting the world's leadership model of the "play-it-safe-CEO".

What about you?  What would you identify as some of the hurdles?  But, don't stop there... offer solutions. And since this is my blog, I get to make the rules... try not to let jaded bitterness come through too much.  As 'Big' John McCarthy used to say in the ring...