What's the Church's Responsibility?

My husband and I have had more than one conversation about this topic. I guess when you set out to start a church, you start to evaluate everything--style, atmosphere, core values, etc. Our church is different, for goodness sake, we watch a preacher on-line 500+ miles away! And yet, it works! It's the way we do church, we realize it's not for everyone, and that's ok. But where does the church stand in area of responsibility of the spiritual growth of a believer?

It seems like we have been programed to run to the church for our growth, or perhaps blame the church for lack thereof. For some reason, probably culture, we have ceased to take responsibility for the things we should being doing on our own--raising our children, reaching out to the unsaved, helping the poor, growing in our walk with Christ. The church is to equip the believers to serve the body, it doesn't say spoon feed and coddle for years on end.

Most of us can read, so why aren't more of us digging into God's Word and following His leadings. Why is it assumed that people just can't possibly understand the Bible and therefore we must talk down to them instead of expecting them to do it on their own? One of my favorite quotes is, "Children will live up to your expectations." Why do we expect so little out of "church people"?

I'm not saying that we leave people out to dry--it is hard to know where to get started with Bible reading, but instead of referring them to an easy to understand book of the Bible to start with, we refer them to a book about the Bible, and so there's no immersing them in the Word. We have so many studies and step-by-step plans that we often forget that all we truly need is the Bible!

I think one way to grow is to get outside of our warm little comfort zone and meet others outside our world. Why do we wait on the church to do that for us as well. It's great when there are organized church functions, but why will we only participate in that? How often do we get so involved in those opportunities that it truly changes us, not just make us feel like we did a good thing and mark that off our list. I realize it is hard to figure out where to get started--but I believe we must.

So that is what I have been sitting on lately. I have an opportunity to serve in a capacity that is out of my comfort zone, and they are asking for a commitment on how long I will serve, scary but something I know I need to do--and I truly want to do as well!