"Accordion Owls" in the American Church

Laughing during a funeral doesn't seem natural, does it?  The same seems true of those who cry during the Super Bowl.  And yet, there is something eternally strange about being a Christian that calls for sorrow while others around us seem to be happy.

I'm not talking about the moping kind of sorrow.  This isn't the response of a 5 year old when he can't stay up an extra hour past curfew.

The type of sorrow I'm referring to is an eternal sorrow that accompanies sobering truth.  Paul demonstrated this most when he said, "always sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10).

The first sorrow that I feel is the knowledge that most people around me may die and go to Hell.  This thought is especially prevalent working in a mega church.  Attending a church with thousands of people brings me to think that many people around me, sitting in the seats every week, may not be wheat, but weeds; with destruction looming in their future (Matthew 13:24-30).

The second sorrow comes from an overwhelming sense of apathy I feel within the church for our current situation.  Sometimes it seems as though I am living in Wonderland; with Christians who think that talking rabbits, tea pot orchestras, accordion owls, and disappearing cats are all perfectly normal.  I'm not talking about mega church anymore.  There are strange things happening in the church of America.

Examples of "Accordion Owls":

• I can't find a prayer partner in the church.  I have asked many people, but the lack of conviction that prayer is important is startling to me.
• We do not challenge believers to read the Bible every day.  "That's too hard", we say.  Instead, we give them a book to read and tell them to have chapter five done by next week.  Then we call these book clubs "bible studies".
• It seems we idolize the worship experience rather than heart transformation through Biblical discovery.  Young people are especially guilty of this.  "I can't worship God if the music doesn't bring me to that place of emotional ecstasy."  I love worshipping God through song, but I don't discover who He is by singing man's words about Him.  I find God by reading the words He wrote about Himself!  Without the Bible and the life of Christ, what would we know about God?  Nothing.

There are more, but these three stick out to me the most.  What are we doing church?  Where is our passion for the Creator of Heaven and Earth?  What will you do today that will make an impact in eternity?