Church - How hard can it be?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the church [I’m studying theology so I kinda have to!]. I know there are various strong and often conflicting views on church and so I figured I'd add mine to the melting pot.
Now, I am generalising like there's no tomorrow and I know there are churches that do not fit this broadest of brushstrokes.

What is it about the church that people either feel strongly about joining and belong to or just as strongly against it? And my ponderings have led me to a place where I am wondering if it's because the church, to skew a common tagline, 'doesn't do exactly what it says on the tin'.

It seems to me as though the church has somewhat fallen behind the ever moving culture. In a world where everything is available 24 hours a day, 7 days week, the church is still seen as a Sunday morning slot. In an environment where tolerance has taken a firm grip on common sense and political correctness seems to strangle and hinder our every move. In a society that allows you to travel, to shop, to work, to study and get qualifications, to sort your finances without physically talking to another human being, the church still functions on a very face-to-face mode. In a world where internet social networking sites have changed the way we communicate, the church again seems lacking. And even when it does get involved there is a distinct element of cheese. As if public opinion says ‘the church doesn’t belong here’.

Which led me on in my ponderings, and forgive the cliché but, I thought ‘what would Jesus actually do to change this?’. I mean that’s why the church exists right?

To provide a presence in society on Jesus’ behalf.

To carry out the things that He wants carried out.

Would Jesus favour Facebook or Myspace or stand sternly on the cathedral steps rebuking all those who engage in such impersonal networking?
How would Jesus interact with people who believe there is no absolute truth?
What would Jesus think of political correctness?
Where would Jesus hang out? What would He do with His time? Would He drink Starbucks?

All these questions are fine for me to ask. But we, as the Church, need to continually asked ourselves these and then ask ourselves if we’re doing likewise. You see, I think the reason the church isn’t ‘doing what it says on the tin’ is because somehow we’ve lost sight of Jesus and lost ground on being like Him.

This great quote from Karen Ward, of Church of the Apostles in Seattle, USA, kinda sums it up. She says “The cultural view ‘gets’ Jesus was for the marginalized and the oppressed. It is only the church that need to be trained to look at Jesus again. They took a poll in my area of Seattle and found that 95 percent of the nonchurched have a favourable view of Jesus, so Jesus is not the problem. It is the church they dislike, because they do no readily see the church living out His teachings”

And Ghandi put it even clearer when he said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians because your Christians are not like your Christ.”

So maybe that’s the answer. We just need to be like Jesus. Think like Jesus. Act Like Jesus. Be compassionate like Jesus. Be Selfless like Jesus. Relate to people like Jesus did.

It can’t be that difficult…

can it?