I've been noticing recently that the church is supposed to be a place where people can come and let their guards down, where they don't have to put up a front. You know, a place where people can actually admit that they don't have all the answers, a place where people can ask difficult questions, where people can agree to disagree, and above all, where people can share each other's suffering, pain, happiness, or whatever emotions people are feeling. Instead, the church is often the place where people have their guards up the most, and as a result, make others feel the need to put their guards up. Also, I find it odd that most modern day Christians go to church, listen to the preacher speak, go to bible study, listen to the teacher speak, and then go out to lunch, and they have the nerve to call that BIBLICAL FELLOWSHIP! I don't know where they get that from, quite honestly. Biblical fellowship is supposed to be about sharing each other's burdens, about being able to admit to weaknesses, about conversation, interaction, and pouring your lives into each other's; pouring your heart out, and knowing that the other person wants to listen, not just because they want you to think that they care, but because they DO care, and the reason they care is because Christ loved the church, and set the example. When are we going to wake up, people? When are we going to finally realize that the church has been asleep for the last 2000 years, and it needs to wake up? I think the time should be now, because if it's not now, it might never happen. There are broken, hurting people in our church's, and people don't even know about it, because we've turned a deaf ear on the homeless, and the needy, we are afraid to allow the prostitutes, the deviants into our churches, afraid to dine with them, afraid to share in the suffering of others, and it's time we bring a stop to all of this foolishness. Notice that I say "we" instead of "you", because I too struggle in this area. I think, above all else, it is time for the church to rise, and wake from it's sleep. And it starts with you and me.