I see people getting hyped up for retreat. Although I'm not going, because of a few reasons. What bothers me the most is why others get all excited for retreat and not for sermons on a regular basis. I know that the environment is different but what is God trying to point out? I used to think that retreat was a "high" point for my spiritual life. But what I thought was wrong. For 3 consecutive years I realized that I went to retreat for the wrong reasons. I felt that retreat was an excuse to spend more quality time with that special person(s)/ friends. And after retreat had ended I began to grow tired of boring sermons. Motivation for me to study and to search for God died off after a month. God proved to me that I needed spiritual food every single day. I can't expect to have spiritual food for a few days from retreat each year. In fact, we NEED spiritual food every single day. I really do hope that one day we'd all realize that having retreat should be a place where we can continue to walk with the Lord. We should look forward studying the Bible through sermons, etc. as much as we look forward to those retreats.
During the meeting for retreat, I was asked to give feedback and I stated that one thing that our church lacked was accountability. We go to church, study the Bible, hang out, and sing songs of worship, but I feel that church should not only be a place of gathering but also a place to keep others in check. To take the time and effort to ask how they are with their spiritual life. We become obscure to our own problems we forget to ask how others are doing. I guess it has to do with issues with opening up. We feel that we're really good friends but we can't share about our feelings with God. We can easily share about our relationships with the opposite sex but we can't share about the joy and struggles that we have with Jesus? Interesting, isn't it?
Song of the day :) Love is the reversal; starfield.
Comments (2)
Retreat shouldn't just be another vacation. Though it can be fun nonetheless.
Accountabillity is definitely important. It's a good way to encourage each other to grow more spiritually and remind each other of how important it is to live for God.
Opening and sharing is a bit scary because you are making yourself vulnerable and other people might not respond the way you want them to, but that is how you begin to have a deeper and more meaningful relationships.
Just be prudent with whom you open up yourself to and how much to share. =)
i totally agree. i think its easy for churches to rely on big special events to make us feel like we're doing something spiritual. true spirituality is genuine is daily, consistent and enduring. keep up those daily and regular disciplines!
and about your church. you are a prophet of our time! speak up against complacency when speaking God's truth. encourage people to initiate deep and genuine accountability and lead in example. =D