Stuck In The Middle

I read a blog post by Frank Viola the other day.  It was a one question survey for 40 somethings.  The question asked what our greatest concern for our faith was going forward.

I rarely comment on this particular blog, but I did this time.  Here is the gist of what I said.

I feel stuck in the middle between the traditional church that I grew up in and the hipster church that is becoming more prevalent today.

Before I go further, let me say that I don’t think either of the church types are wrong.  Neither do I think that either church style is right.  They simply are.  I don’t believe in church style being a right or wrong issue.

The problem I run into when I discuss this type of thing with people is that like most things, people go to extremes.  They either want to hang on to the traditional or they want to toss it completely and start something new.

Basically, what I see with almost all groups that I come into contact with is an inflexibility.  The traditional don’t want to embrace anything new.  The other side does not want to embrace the past.

I might be accused of not wanting to come down in one particular area.  I will have to confess, I’m guilty as charged.

I would love to see church be much more, for the lack of a better word, organic.

For example, why do many churches have a big service on Sunday morning, then a repeat on smaller scale on Sunday evening, with a repeat on a much smaller scale on Wednesday night?

What if we slightly increased the length of our morning service, where we might sing just a little longer?  Where public prayer was encouraged?  Where the preacher was not confined to a 30 minute time limit?

What if on Sunday evenings we encouraged families to stop and have time in the word of God together?

What if the men met in a small group together during the week some time?

What if the  two or three couples got together during the week to pray, fellowship and study God’s word?

What if we sung new, contemporary songs alongside the older, hymns of our faith?

What if we couldn’t wait to see each other and met daily to believe and do the work of God in our lives?

What if we weren’t stuck in the middle?

Have you ever felt stuck in the middle?