"you need to sit down in your pews and listen up. The Lord is running to you. " were I think my exact words to a friend in commenting on the following song:
(all lyrics are as I remember the and may not necessarily be completely accurate)

"and then He ran to me
Took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest;
He said 'my sons come home again'
He looked at my face
Wiped the tears from my eyes
And with forgiveness in His heart
Said Son, do you know I still love you?
It caught me by surprise
It brought me to my knees
When God ran"

As much as we run from Him. As plastic as we've made His church. He still pursues us with His love and welcomes us home. And speaking of plastic, here's another song that's been on my mind lately.

"Are we happy plastic people
In our happy plastic steeple
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain"

... ... ... and still another ... ... ...

"And if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching"

Although I'm not all about American Christian music there is some truth to be found and some wisdom to be gleaned.

Christ did not come and live a painless life so that we could have a new market to sell things in. Christ came and walked among real people with real pain and real brokenness. He is not afraid of our humanity! He can handle our brokenness and our messy lives. He can handle our questions and our doubts. My generation claims to value genuine honesty, I'm learning how messy that can be.

Sara Kelly spoke at school this week and her words on my generation and the church astonished me. She quoted a stat that 85% of the 20-somethings are walking away from the church; never to return. 85%! The church, as a whole, isn't being completely honest. The 20-somethings aren't interested in religion because its what their parents have. They don't care how great the song service is. Lip service all sounds the same when its not coming from a genuine heart.

After acknowledging all this, she encouraged us to not give up on the church. We don't have to be plastic Christians. Its okay to ask the big questions and to search for God. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened"(Mt 7:7-8). Can we handle the fact that God doesn't fit into a box or into our concept of what we think He should be? The God of the Bible is much bigger than the god of American christianity; and He is worth every step of the pursuit.