I think God wants us to be "the church", not the ones who "go to church".
This morning, I was thinking about the different things God has created, and I got to the church. Then, I wondered if the church really looks like what he meant for it to look like. In many mainstream churches today, I just can't see it. I see the church in some of my friends; I see pockets of the church throughout America and overseas, but I also see a lot of programming and people "going to church". Don't get me wrong, programming is not bad--sometimes it really helps to accomplish our purposes. But sometimes it hinders our purposes.
Purpose of the church? Togetherness--we could all worship God separately, and we could all hole up and live our lives separately, but God wanted us to do these things together. Togetherness doesn't mean going to a building (old and steepled or new with an attractive sign), necessarily, but it means sharing the time when we sing and rejoice and lament to God; sharing the time when we eat (this is not exclusive to pot-lucks, although I am a fan of them); sharing our finances. It's hard to live with people, but that's just part of becoming more like Jesus. He lived with people too. Feel free to disagree or agree with my opinion on the purpose of the church. It's probably not complete yet, but I think togetherness is a huge factor.
5 comments:
You know how I feel and think, so I know you won't hear this as a challenge, but sometimes the mega church can also allow people to slip IN through the cracks that don't seem to exist in smaller more contained churches. They come more readily and are potentially exposed to some Jesus.
I think you're onto something here. I feel like we should spend more time "being", rather than doing. So, much of modern "ministry" has become about doing things to help people sign up. Unfortunately, it seems that most of this leads to a nation of people who do the religion of Christianity, and a few who follow in the steps of Jesus.
I'm learning to view every moment as sacred, so whether I'm praying, chillin with friends, or hanging out at the local bar, these all are becoming "church" to me. Maybe that's a step to help us get beyond "doing" church, and become what Jesus intended.
Take care! Hope you're doing well...
I got to hang out with a bunch of USC students last night, and we just had fun playing soccer. I don't know if they're Christians or not, but we can have fun together, and I want to build relationships with them. It wasn't intended as an evanglism thing (I like soccer; they like soccer), but it is. That's part of the church too. I'm trying to re-train my mind as to what evangelism really is too.
I agree with you. Really enjoyed this post.
Michael, what's your e-mail address?
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