More on Isaiah 58...

I've been thinking more and more about this chapter in Isaiah. I'm actually teaching on this chapter in our college group at Hillside on June 3. As I have been pondering this passage, I've run into a few people and had a few experiences that have shed some insight into the meaning of this. I'm searching for meaning and understanding because I feel that this chapter draws some very clear connections to the Christian culture we live in today.

One thing I have questioned is the authenticity of the Christian community I'm a part of (and all Christians for that matter). I'm in no place to judge them, and I've got my own problems, but I can't help but see more potential in people. Jon Havens wrote about a similar situation, so there must be something profound about Isaiah 58 if we both are contemplating the same ideas about our generation.

There are many things I'm concerned about, but specifically I believe that there is such a lack of community. What I mean is, people are not living in a way that they depend on God and each other. We have become self-sufficient people who have lost true community. For example, I've run into some people who don't mind talking with people who are not like them; discussing God, politics, family, whatever. They will go to outreach events and serve food to the homeless. But what happens then? They retreat back to their close knit family and friends who think the way they do and they never establish lasting relationships with these people who actually need it (I'm guilty of doing this also). There is still a separation between the Christian and the non-Christian. We don't accept them as we do our own kind. There is an "us" and "them" mentality.

Also, there are problems with how we connect to each other at the church. We get together and give each other Jesus backrubs at our small groups and put on a smile and act like we have it all together on Sunday mornings. Then we retire back to our homes and get away from the people that challenge us and are different from us. Why can't we be real and authentic? Why can't we relieve the oppression in our own lives and in the lives of others?

I think I'm just feeling cynical today, but there is so much potential in the church and its not being tapped into. We were created for so much more than emtpy religiosity and fake personnas. Read Isaiah 58, its amazing.