The Chasm

A great book I picked up this week is "The Church of Irresistible Influence" by Robert Lewis. It is a book of bridge building. After all, that is really what ministry is all about. Getting safely to the other side of the chasm is a life-long pursuit in about every area we know. It seems there is always a chasm to cross to get from where we are to where we want to go. The reconnection of the church with our culture requires a bridge that requires God's help to build. Here are some of the chasms:

1. The area between first century authority and post-modern skepticism.

2. The area between bold proclamation of God's love and unmet human needs.

3. The area between the selfless vision of Christ and the self-obsessed reality of our world.

4. The area between the truth of God's laws and the moral compromise of our culture.

5. The area between those who believe and those who don't.

Lewis points out that at the bottom of that chasm "rages the white water of popular sentiment, which increasingly views the church as inconsequential, a sideshow along the interstate of the world's real traffic." With 6 out of 10 Americans believing the church is irrelevant, it is no wonder that there is increasing cynicism. Only one out of 3 pastors believes the church is making a positive impact on the culture.

Those kinds of facts drive me to my knees and cause me to ask myself, as the disciples did when Jesus said He was going to be betrayed by one of them, "Is it I, Lord?"

I say: Let's go out and impact the culture by praying dangerously and spanning the gap with God's bridge. The waters may be troubled, but the bridge is sound.