Christianity 2.0

This is my new foray into the blogosphere space after a lengthy hiatus.  I've realized that I have so many thoughts, beliefs, philosophies and other things in my head that I cannot label, that I need to get that out in one place.  This is the place for those thoughts.

My interests have recently aligned around a concept I've called "Christianity 2.0".  The term comes from a buzzword we've used in the Internet business called "Web 2.0".  Just like the internet buzzword, this religious buzzword has a wide range of meaning, connotation and aesthetic which I'll try to detail in my coming posts.  But for this one, I'll try my best to define something I see as a necessary movement.

Web 2.0 was a declaration of change.  It was an admission that the Internet as we knew it had deviated from it's original intent and became something that it was never meant to become.  There are a lot of details at play here (because that's where the devil is afterall), but for the most part the impetus of the change was simplification.  Web page designs had become heavy and unusable.  HTML coding had become cumbersome and non-standard.  The internet had become a one-way brochure-style communication device that it was never meant to be.  The original intent was lost.

In the same way I believe that Christianity has become far removed from the original intent of it's architect, Jesus Christ.  From the beginning of the church in the book of Acts, we see the church as it was intended.  Scholars and historians would argue I'm sure that the church had to adapt, or was intended to adapt and become what it is today.  I don't buy that.  I believe that the church has become a social culmination of cultural bias, multiple religious and historical influences and human tendencies that have watered down the power of God available to us.  Today's church is known to be hypocritical, haters, lovers of money and highly cliquish to say the least.  It has returned to the state of the Pharisees to say the most.  So what is the church to be?  Enter Christianity 2.0.

Christianity 2.0 is a reboot.  It's a mulligan.  It's a do-over.  It's saying we need to build this thing back up from a foundation that is based on the Word of God and the love of Christ.  It's taking a fresh look at the person of Christ to determine how we are to act.  It's recognizing that love is the primary objective of the church.  It's realizing that we need to be facing out and not in.  It's realizing how far down the wrong road we travelled.  And then it's realizing we need to turn around.

I am pretty sure that this blog may get me more than a view angry comments from christians (case intentionally left lowered).  I'm sure I may be accused of being a "red-letter Christian" (although that seems really redundant doesn't it?).  I'm sure I will get a few references to Proverbs 3:5 and to encouraged not "lean on my own understanding" although the bible definitely wants me to use my brain.  I will fight for what I believe the bible is telling me and for the spirit of Christ that wells up within.  I'll rise up for the cause of the gospel even if people persecute me, because I can't stay status quo any longer.  I need to be one to stand up and trust God and believe His word and enact change.

So if you have read this, welcome.  I encourage any comments you may have or things you'd like to hear my insight into.  I hope that this blog makes us all crack open our bibles, brush of the dust, open our eyes, and see with new revelation what the living Word of God has to tell us about the new church, or rather... the emergence of the true Church.