The Present Future I: Reflections

What McNeal said in the first chapter is a lot of what I've been thinking over the past few years. I resonate with his comments on the church surviving on old money, work, and energy from previous generations. In the church I currently work at, I wonder just how long we'll be able to continue on in our present ways, especially in the financial arena. I think we are making steps to address today's culture, but I'm concerned about how we spend money. I've always been torn in my thoughts when we decide to add on to the building, or
buy new computers, or remodel the youth room. These decisions seem to mirror what McNeal says we need to avoid in building bigger and better things to attract more people to become members. Are we simply doing what we're doing in an effort to cater more to the "needs" of those who are already members or are we trying to keep up with the culture to make Christianity more relevant for today's generation to ultimately accomplish the God's mission of redemption?

Can I just say that this statement -"A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith."- really bothers me for two reasons...
(1) This implies that no longer is the church the body of Christ accomplishing God's mission.
(2) I'm starting to feel this in my own experience. How sad for me to say that the church, of which I grew up in and so strongly believe in, is causing me to rethink my very own participation and involvement. I'm not saying that I'm leaving the church, rather, I'm questioning participation in the church in its current state.

Wouldn't it be great to be the generation who recognized the mess we're in and did something to get out of it? Better yet, wouldn't it be great to be the generation who surrendered our own agenda to God's ultimately turning the church into what it was intended to be? Some recommendations I have to make this possible...
(1) Stop referring to our Sunday morning gatherings at "going to church." On the same wave; stop asking somebody where they "go to church." We've turned church into a destination for an event. That doesn't seem to be what Jesus meant when he spoke of the church as his bride or his body.
(2) Allow for ourselves to question the things we've always done. There is good in tradition, but I also find that it clots our flow as well. What would happen if there was no longer a staff position at the church buildings? What would it look like if we never paid money to the institution to pay bills and instead put all our moneys towards relieving world hunger?
(3) No longer allowing anyone to join the church and decide if they can become a member or not. Is there a place in Scripture that talks about becoming a member of a local church? If so, please point me to it. If we continue to have members and non-members, we'll continue to remove ourselves from the world of which we are to be in but not of. It's much more difficult to accomplish God's redemptive work in the world if we castrate ourselves off from it. The club mentality surely is not the answer.