In a nutshell, the reasons that I most commonly discover for why people are not connected to a community are pride, selfishness, laziness and poor priorities. These don’t cover everybody but they cover a whole lot of them.

I realize that these seem harsh but I am speaking about people who claim to know better not non-believing individuals.

I had some major struggles with the latter myself. My thought process was something like “The church doesn’t get it. It’s about community, not where you meet or meeting with a specific group of people. So why exactly should I get involved with yet another church?” Obviously I did get involved with a church, and I’m glad I did– but LifePoint is different, I think. I knew I couldn’t go to another mainstream church like all the ones I’d been to before (not to bash other churches, I just knew they didn’t work for ME.)

James- what are the real reasons that the RR people you know are not connected to a community?

I think the point you made about creating rather than finding is a good one. But (as I’m sure you know!) creating can be really hard. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done, of course, but the challenge and difficulty can hinder people sometimes.

I guess the point is I apply the idea of the RR that I personally know to all the ones that I don’t know. The sad truth is, the ones I know are not connected to a community for very different reason than they claim. They offer great reasons but because I know them, In know that they are not the real reasons. I guess I wrongfully place that idea on all of th RR. Maybe some of them really haven’t found the right community.

Then again if they are the ones with the insight then community isn’t something for them to “find” but something for them to “create”. In the words of many great leaders, “criticize by creating”.

I have no idea how that applies to my critique of the Rantin’ Remnant but I am open to suggestions.

:)

Thanks for the comment. Like you, I agree with what both of those statements from the “Rantin’ Remnant”. It’s not just those statements that I think are unhealthy, but the general aura of do-nothingness that seems to hang on those statements when they are made from the type of people that I am, pardon the pun, “Rantin” about. I think it’s normal to be upset with the things within the church that we have feel are un-Christlike, the problem is when we become nothing but complainers. We spend all of our time murmuring and none of our time trying to find ways to change something. The Rantin’ Remnant may have, at one time, truly wanted to change something, but now, they use their Rantin’ as an exuse NOT to have to do anything. The Rantin’ Remnant has been upset for so long, that they’ve lost touch with why they were truly ranting in the first place.

I’m sorry that I didn’t make that clearer in my post, but hey, that’s what comments are for, right? I hope that clarifies what I meant. If not, let me know and I’ll try it again.

I know I was like that for a while. I could see the problems and they were easy to complain about, but changing them is difficult, especially if you have to figure out on your own how to take the the steps to make changes. Until we found LifePoint we hadn’t found a place where we really connected, and we weren’t sure how to either.

And even now that we have found a place where we connect, we obviously still believe that “it’s not about a building or getting together with one specific group of people.” Meeting with a specific group of people is great, but so is meeting with new people or spending time with God alone or in a small group, or in a restaurant or a home or a park or anywhere else.

Maybe I just don’t get what you’re saying. I agree with both of the “Rantin’ Remnant” phrases you posted, but at the same time I am trying to change things and connect with a group of people and have community.