Alan Creech does a good job of answering the question, "Why Do Church Differently?"
This is why. I can answer for some and not all. We have looked and we have seen the deep lack of real transformation going on in the Body of Christ. We aren't - we haven't been - being changed into the people we were created to be. And we have seen that the context of our Christian lives has had a good deal to do with this lack of transformation. I would never argue for change simply based on taste or angst. It's about the big question - "in what context are people most effectively formed into the image of Christ?" That's it - that is really IT. This is "why church?" Why? Because it is in this context of healthy Christian Community, functioning properly, that we are all transformed into His image. And the answer to "why do it differently?" is because what we have been doing, on the whole, is not facilitating that change. And so we look deeply and see where the kinks are and we ask God to help us straighten them out. Then, we step out and try, by His Grace, to do that.That is not the whole story. That's not the full answer. But it is a beginning to what I, and many others, are thinking and doing. Not to be cool. Not to keep up with the surrounding culture. Not because we're mad or hurt. Not those things. They may be in there somewhere, but they cannot be allowed to be the primary reasons why we do these things - these weird little communities of faith that people shrug off and to a large degree, dismiss. The reason is deeper than that. Whether the answers manifest themselves as looking postmodern or premodern or whatever - that's not the point. The point is - is who we are and what we do facilitating transformational change effectively in our communities? We need to be about answering that question. God's Grace be with us.
