Saw this quote in the comments of a blog post by a friend of mine, Bob Sabath,  and the quote is from Richard Rohr,  whom Bob has been telling me a lot about over the past several years

I know I am walking on sacred ground here, but I am going to say it: The church often does not really encourage an inner life. It substitutes belief systems and belonging systems and moral systems for interior journeys toward God. As a result the outer behavior is pretty weak as well. I would be willing to argue this position at the highest levels of Catholic hierarchy, Protestant scripture interpretation, or fundamentalist mental gymnastics."

Is it REALLY the end of Men? – Bob Sabath – God’s Politics Blog

Absolutely.  I’ve been noticing this.  In fact,  it seems to me that this is the number one reason for my almost total absence from any gathered community over the past 8-10 years.  It (the church)  really sucks at this.  The “belief systems” and “moral systems” thing;  it’s a big problem.  We have become “consumers” of “content”.

The book I have been reading.   “Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview,  and Cultural Formation”,  devotes a lot of space to this problem.  There is SO MUCH that the church omits by falling prey to the “knowledge consumption” model (like,  as the author of the book mentions,  the “affective”;  the “formation of desires” toward the Kingdom of God and its expression).