Where's the dam bait?

  Yesterday, I watched the Condit Dam breach.

 

  The Condit Dam was on the White Salmon River in Washington State.  They blew a hole in the bottom of the dam to drain the reservoir, restoring life to a river that had been trapped behind a dam for decades.  I will freely admit, it was pretty dam exciting.  (I couldn't resist)  Not so much the viewing, because once the hole was blown it was simply a matter of water pouring out, but the fact that the river was restored to its natural state--that it could run as the good Lord intended it to, rather than how we decided to allow it.

  I couldn't help but think about our church while I was watching the water course with renewed life.  I spent time yesterday at a meeting discussing the denomination's travails, our struggles to go forth and fulfill the mission God has laid forth for us.  We are so caught up in ourselves that we miss opportunities to engage culture, to proclaim grace.

  I got to thinking--what are the dams in the church?

  What are the objects/structures/programs that are so ingrained in our culture that we don't notice them anymore, but that now serve to obstruct the Spirit's flow?  What have we built that was once useful but now serves to constrict and limit us?  Where is the church failing to be the church because we're caught up maintaining something that doesn't serve a useful and faithful purpose anymore?

  I wonder what these might be.  I wonder how we might serve more faithfully by letting some old structures or ways of life go so that new life might spring forth and the Spirit's power might course more freely through our lives, through our churches, through our people.