Building the Kingdom, or a Kingdom of Buildings?

Recently Richard, a Wendat native, penned these thoughts directed to those in the missions industry:

You denomination planting missionaries who come holding blueprints and church building schemes..such big plans you have for us!!!!

go back to your own local communities and look carefully and see if your own people are better people overall...less selfish, less given to greed and power by the same plans you have for us...if they aren't changing anything ,then stay and work with your own people first till they honor our sacred mother,and stop raping and pillaging her like she is some prostitute created for mens pleasure.

This earth herself in her torn beauty is weeping....can't you hear her???? Are people so hardened by human-chaos they are deaf???? SHE herself should be seen as SACRED just by the fact that THE GIFT was planted, born, died and was reborn from her womb! This earth MOTHER is now a Sacred Monument and should be treated as such.
Richard, your works echo the thoughts of Red Jacket, when the missionaries asked permission to preach to his people. It seems that the Western church measures and defines Christianity by a narrow set of definitions.

You have a "successful church" if:

--you have a building, the newer the better
--a certain quantity of people attend -- more people + more success
--people are "tithers" even though only 17% of church members tithe
--the pastors makes a full-time salary with good benefits

Although everyone knows about these standards, few dare ask such questions as

--Is the community any better off because this church is now here?
--Have any lives changed?
--Has repentance occurred?
--Have amends been made?
--Did the liquor store go out of business?
--Are the widows cared for?
--Do the orphans have homes?
--Are the ones in jail and prison visited?
--Are the sick visited and prayed for?
--Are the poor fed?

I remember all the grief that my Cherokee friend Randy Woodley got for proposing a modest 8-sided pole church building for natives. Randy has built this building 3 times. It costs $5000 to build and holds 130 people. It has no utilities but then again has no payments either and little maintenance. But the church people, and even natives, make fun of this because "real churches" have electricity, full kitchens, fiberoptics for the internet broadband connections, and if they are really successful, a video and audio recording studio. Well Randy's church building provides shelter from the rain, ventilation in the heat, a fire pit in the center for a sacred fire, a dry floor and places for everyone to sit. And the view is 360 when the weather is good, but when it is cold, it can be nice and cozy, a shelter from the cold and wind. But it is not a real church because it only costs $5000 and doesn't have a mortgage. Without monthly payments, it creates too many difficult decisions -- what do we do with all the extra money?

Thanks for listening. As you build the native church of Jesus, how do you measure success?

ray+

# posted by Ray @ 9:18 PM
Building the Kingdom, or a Kingdom of Buildings?
Recently Richard, a Wendat native, penned these thoughts directed to those in the missions industry:

You denomination planting missionaries who come holding blueprints and church building schemes..such big plans you have for us!!!!

go back to your own local communities and look carefully and see if your own people are better people overall...less selfish, less given to greed and power by the same plans you have for us...if they aren't changing anything ,then stay and work with your own people first till they honor our sacred mother,and stop raping and pillaging her like she is some prostitute created for mens pleasure.

This earth herself in her torn beauty is weeping....can't you hear her???? Are people so hardened by human-chaos they are deaf???? SHE herself should be seen as SACRED just by the fact that THE GIFT was planted, born, died and was reborn from her womb! This earth MOTHER is now a Sacred Monument and should be treated as such.

Richard, your works echo the thoughts of Red Jacket, when the missionaries asked permission to preach to his people. It seems that the Western church measures and defines Christianity by a narrow set of definitions.

You have a "successful church" if:

--you have a building, the newer the better
--a certain quantity of people attend -- more people + more success
--people are "tithers" even though only 17% of church members tithe
--the pastors makes a full-time salary with good benefits

Although everyone knows about these standards, few dare ask such questions as

--Is the community any better off because this church is now here?
--Have any lives changed?
--Has repentance occurred?
--Have amends been made?
--Did the liquor store go out of business?
--Are the widows cared for?
--Do the orphans have homes?
--Are the ones in jail and prison visited?
--Are the sick visited and prayed for?
--Are the poor fed?

I remember all the grief that my Cherokee friend Randy Woodley got for proposing a modest 8-sided pole church building for natives. Randy has built this building 3 times. It costs $5000 to build and holds 130 people. It has no utilities but then again has no payments either and little maintenance. But the church people, and even natives, make fun of this because "real churches" have electricity, full kitchens, fiberoptics for the internet broadband connections, and if they are really successful, a video and audio recording studio. Well Randy's church building provides shelter from the rain, ventilation in the heat, a fire pit in the center for a sacred fire, a dry floor and places for everyone to sit. And the view is 360 when the weather is good, but when it is cold, it can be nice and cozy, a shelter from the cold and wind. But it is not a real church because it only costs $5000 and doesn't have a mortgage. Without monthly payments, it creates too many difficult decisions -- what do we do with all the extra money?

Thanks for listening. As you build the native church of Jesus, how do you measure success?

ray+