An Open House for a Church?

I heard about a billboard that was asking people to come visit an Open House for a church. Let me be quick to say I'm not against this church. I'm honestly not even for sure which church this is. I hope they see disciples made through their ministry, but I do want to draw attention to something... the perspective on church that is communicated through this billboard essentially sums up why the Christian faith in America is declining more and more... We biblically don't understand what it means to follow Jesus according to His words and what we learn in the New Testament.

How did we get so far away from what Jesus said in Matthew 4:19?... “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

In this verse, I truly believe Jesus invites us to know the basis of Christianity. It's with these words that He literally launched a movement that would reach half the Roman  Empire in about 250-300 years. How and/or why did we go from Jesus' call to worship Him, live for Him, and teach others to do the same all the way to merely attend our church "building" (or even attend our Open House) and consume the ministries and facilities we have to offer?

God's made it clear to me that no one person can change this American perspective on church. However, I can change my perspective. I can also challenge the people in my sphere of influence to embrace a more biblical model of following Jesus and being the church. Therefore, I'm not going to merely complain about the status quo of Christianity. I will do something about it. My family will seek to join with other families to intentionally be the church and embrace the call to follow Jesus through the words of Jesus Himself. I will bring my kids up to understand that "church" is who we are. It's not a building that we tour or go to for a service.

At the same time, I know there's a cost here. It means I'll never be a megachurch pastor and that many in the "church world" will look at my efforts as failures, but I'm okay with that. Most people viewed Jesus as a failure because He wouldn't embrace the religious culture of His day. I'm not out to be a rebel, but I will strive to be who Jesus wants me to be even if it goes against the grain of American church culture.

So what about you? How are you following Him? I'm not asking do you go to church. Are you open to the Holy Spirit leading you in your everyday life or are you simply looking for the newest, coolest, most attractive church to attend? How are you teaching your kids to think of "church" and following Jesus?