Organism or Organization?

I read the parable of the sower in Matthew 13: 1-23 the other day and it made me wonder if my life looks like the seed sown among thorns more often than not.

The seed sown among thorns is "the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful." (NIV - emphasis mine ) That seems way too true for me. How about you? I'm also afraid it most accurately describes where much of the church in North America is.

Some interesting information from a book by Joel Vestel titled Dangerous Faith: Growing in God and Service to the World:

- the average donation by adults who attend U.S. Protestant churches is only about seventeen
dollars a week

- eighty percent of the world's evangelical wealth is in North America

- there is an estimated 850 billion dollars per year of disposable income among evangelicals in the United States

If the church, just in North America, followed God's heart on giving would that alone possibly be enough to fund the Great Commission?

I fear that the church in North America ( you and I ) looks less like the organism that Jesus expects to storm the gates of hell and more like an organization providing services to club members.