Encountering God

There is a very interesting report from the Barna organization that caught my attention this morning. In this report the portion that has me thinking are these words,

Experiencing Transformation

The survey also probed the degree to which people say their lives had been changed by attending church. Overall, one-quarter of Americans (26%) who had been to a church before said that their life had been changed or affected “greatly” by attending church. Another one-fourth (25%) described it as “somewhat” influential. Nearly half said their life had not changed at all as a result of churchgoing (46%).

This portion of the study really captivated me. As I read it I realize that there is so much more to this than the content of the message, the style of the music, or the ability of the speaker. There is the heart of the one in the pew! My mind immediately thought of the story of the sower and the seed as Jesus described this phenomenon over 2,000 years ago,

Mark 4:¹⁴ "The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

It strikes me that what Barna is seeing is what Jesus saw and described. In the midst of a church full of people are the distractions of the world, the bills, worries about life and what the week ahead holds. In the middle of a church where God is speaking, the word is taught and the Spirit is working more than 1/2 of the crowd will be untouched by the word, Spirit and ability of the grandest speaker. It's a reality of the human heart....we are a pretty tough crowd! "How hard it is for anyone to be saved" Jesus told his disciples. They were amazed, but what Jesus knew that they didn't was how much distracts us, how hard it is for God to get our attention, how adverse we are to God's word and it's impact in our lives.

It makes me keenly aware of how much I must trust God to work in my heart and in the hearts and lives of those I teach. This is a work of God and many will completely miss God's presence as he moves among us. This study by Barna brought this to a new clarity for me and moves me to pray more intently for my own heart and the hearts of those I care for.