What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church? Quotes

“The question for those of us in the West, and particularly in America, is this—Why have we chosen to construct such fragile church structures? Why do we build ministries that rely upon a single fallible leader, one dynamic speaker, or that require massive and unsustainable amounts of money? Our devotion to fragile systems means that as the pace of cultural, political, and technological change increases, so will the spirit of fear among Christians.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“So, how do you know if you’re part of a vampire church? Here’s what I do—engage and get to know the people at the center of the community, those who are giving the most time to the institution—the pastors, elders, staff members, and volunteer leaders. What fruit do their lives display? If you generally find healthy women and men of peace, harmony, gentleness, and joy, it’s usually a good sign. If those at the center are consistently burned out, exhausted, anxious, bitter, and unable to keep their core relationships healthy—be careful. Remember, the reason vampires want to suck the life out of you is because it’s already been sucked out of them.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“That seems beyond any organizational metric or customer feedback survey. And if our primary goal for Sunday worship is self-improvement or institutional growth, then we should admit we aren’t really there to worship God at all, but to use Him. And if our worship is always driven by pragmatism, let’s confess that it isn’t really worship.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“We do not gather on Sunday because it will measurably improve our lives, families, or careers. And churches that engineer their services to increase institutional growth are at risk of allowing logistics to eclipse love.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“Obviously, we cannot turn back time. There is no way to re-create the church as it existed in the first century, nor should we try. We are called to this time, this culture, and this location. Therefore, we must ask what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ right where we are, rather than in some idealized past no longer accessible to us.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“Other organizations…are founded on some shared purpose - to sell a product, to make money, to elect a candidate, or to change a community. When the church copies their values, we can’t help but make our mission foundational as well, and in a subtle twist of idolatry, the work of Jesus comes to replace the person of Jesus in our lives and in our churches. In the process, we cease to be a true temple of God and instead become just another organization with a product to sell.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“In war, we see the ultimate expression of ungodly utilitarianism. War is supremely practical. It is the willingness to sacrifice literally everything to achieve a goal…Worship, however, is the opposite of war. It is an act of creation rather than destruction, of order rather than chaos, and beauty rather than ugliness...Art is more than a luxury, and beauty is more than an extravagance. When we create art and music, or when we gather to worship with expressions of splendor and adoration...we are performing an act of defiance. We are creating an oasis of beauty amid the dehumanizing ugliness of our world. We are declaring our refusal to succumb to the brutal practicality of the world, which crushes people in its pursuit of power, wealth, or fame.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“The great danger of practical, transactional worship is that it shapes us to see God as a mere device, a disposable product. And the way we see God invariably determines how we see those created in His image. If the church’s worship communicates, directly or indirectly, that the Creator exists to be used, we shouldn’t be surprised to find an indifference among Christians toward people we have determined aren’t useful either.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“Worship is an impractical and beautiful act of adoration that flows from a heart transfixed by the beauty of God. That is why Jesus celebrates the woman in Mark 14 and the disciples rebuked her. She was worshiping beautifully, but they could only think of worship transactionally.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“there may have been no practical reason for Jesus to turn water into wine at a wedding, or for God to put “every beautiful tree” in the garden for Adam and Eve to enjoy, or for Him to adopt us into His family and lavish His love upon us. Maybe these were all simply expressions of His nonsensical love. And maybe that’s what worship is. It’s what happens when God’s delight in us inspires our delight in Him, sparking an endless loop of joy between Creator and creature, between Lover and beloved.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“Worship, however, is the opposite of war. It is an act of creation rather than destruction, of order rather than chaos, and beauty rather than ugliness.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“At its core, Sabbath is about freedom from bondage, not merely rest from activity.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended

“The community of the church is supposed to be a sign to the world of the new reality that has begun—one in which ethnic and social divisions are mended, hatred is undone by love, and evil is overcome by good.”
― Skye Jethani, What If Jesus Was Serious about the Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended