Simple Church = Scary Church
You know I love sarcasm… so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to link to some really good sarcasm. Bethany from “Covered By His Hand” has written a great post called “Why Home Churches Are Scary.” Bethany and her family came up with a list of reasons that people may be frightened by home churches.
Here is her list:
1 – I cannot sit on the back row and escape before anyone greets me.
2 – People want to talk to me… I mean really talk.
3 – People care about me.
4 – I might have to take an interest in other people.
5 – I might be expected to participate in a discussion (rather than spacing out while a preacher does his monologue).
6 – I can’t skip church on a whim… but will actually have to call and give a reason for my disappearance.
7 – No nursery?! Who’s gonna watch my kids?!
8 – I have to eat lunch with these people… and they want to talk to me!
9 – These people read my blog! (Credit to Paul)
10 – How will they pay the light bill? The offering plates are never passed. (Credit to Paul)
11 – They want us to stay all day. (Credit to Rebecca… who runs and plays with the children all day, much to her pleasure)
12 – They might want to come to my house.
13 – I don’t know who the preacher is. (Credit to Paul)
14 – Where’s the coffee and donuts? (Credit to Rebecca)
15 – What do you mean, there is no Sunday School or children’s church? (Credit to Rebecca)
16 – Where’s the worship leader? (Credit to Paul)
17 – Saying I am “fine” just doesn’t cut it… they really want to talk to me.
So, which of these “scare” you the most? Can you think of others?
Monday-Saturday Church
Everybody knows about church on Sunday. But what about Monday-Saturday?
Josh at “Called to Rebuild” has written an excellent article called “Church Life: More than a Meeting.” Josh says:
A person may go to a meeting once a week, and it might be the best meeting this world has ever seen-full of life, love, and warm-hearted fellowship. But if that meeting alone represents the full extent of their participation in the local Body of Christ than they are still missing out on the majority of real church life. I’ve experienced the difference myself, and there really is no comparison. The writer to the Hebrews didn’t instruct the believers there to exhort one another “daily†for no reason, you know. Daily fellowship is not just a privilege but a necessity if we ever hope to go on unto the fullness of Christ.
Yep. Just last night I was talking with some new friends. I told them that if they wanted to understand who were are as a church, they would need to hang out with us during the week. For example, tonight we plan to help some friends pack their truck as they prepare to move to Georgia. Church life!
This reminds me of something I read a few years ago (perhaps from Jonathan?): If there is no life outside the meeting, there will be no life in the meeting. (Or something like that.)
Greetings?
Have you ever paid attention to Romans 16? Twelve times, Paul commands his readers to “Greet” someone or a group of people.
Who did Paul intend to do the “greeting”? What did it mean for them to “greet” others? Who were they “greeting”?
I think, if we examine this passage (and other similar passages) closely, and we identify who Paul was talking to, who he was talking about, and what he intended them to do, then we would recognize how far we’ve come from the interactive and interrelational attitude of those early churches.
Today, we don’t even know one another… how could we possibly greet people who do not meet with us?
Count others more significant than yourselves
At the beginning of Philippians chapter 2, Paul lays out a very convicting list that should define the life of believers. One of those characteristics is this: “Count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3) Another is this: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).
Paul then tells us that in order to think like this, we should think the same way that Jesus Christ thought (Philippians 2:5-11).
Have you ever thought about what this should look like in the lives of Christian leaders, elders, pastors, bishops, etc? Do these commands apply to leaders in the church? How?
Always Living but Never Arriving
Recently, while reading Lionel’s post “Pros and Cons of ‘Organic’ Church Meeting: Part 1 Cons,” I began thinking about living in community with others. You see, the thing about community is that we never “arrive.” At least, our community never becomes a perfect group of perfect people. There are always struggles.
Of course, this seems obvious, doesn’t it. But, it is always somewhat counter-intuitive. We get the feeling that if we put enough time into this thing we call community – if we live with one another like family for long enough – then life together will become easy.
In truth, we will always struggle with one another, primarily because we will always struggle with sin. I mean, think about it, even if I manage to go a day living in perfect harmony with God and others, chances are that others will not live perfect lives that day. And, on days when everyone else is living completely in obedience to God, I’m the one who has problems.
You see, we need one another, but the fact that we live together means that we will constantly struggle with one another, both because of our own sinfulness and self-centeredness, and also because of the sin and selfishness of others.
If we come together with one another with the false assumption that one day we will have perfect community, then we will be in for a rude awakening. As people change – their life circumstances – so will our community. As people move into or out of the area, our community will change. As children are born or parents die, the community will be different. There will constantly be new challenges and struggles.
So, we don’t live for that day when our community finally “makes it.” No, we live for today. We share today with one another. When someone fails, we forgive them. When we fail we ask for forgiveness. But, we keep living together, trusting in the presence and grace of God to bring us closer to one another and to him.
We must stop looking forward to that time when we can finally live in community. Instead, we must decide whether or not we’re going to share our lives with someone else today. If we choose to share our life with someone today, it won’t be perfect, but it will be a step toward more fellowship with one another – which, in John’s words, is more fellowship with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ.
A Family Affair
Elroy at “A Change Room” wrote a great post called “A (not-so-secret) Secret to Great Church Life.” In his post, Elroy reminds us that the church is a family. Here are some “family values” that he says applies to the church:
Families Genuinely Take Care of One Another.
Families Spend Time Together.
Families Grow.
Families Share Responsibility.
This is his conclusion:
The language of the New Testament treats us to the imagery of the church as a family, not a business. Don’t think the writers of the New Testament were not privy to corporation-like information. Their previous religious experiences alone would’ve been enough to arm them with business-like thinking. The state-political environment of their day was another great example of man-made super corporate structures. But instead we find locked up in their pursuit for spiritual family the value system that motivated the Triune God to create humans in the first place. According to Their eternal purpose They created a community similar to Themselves. Because we are made in the likeness and image of God, we are only truly human when we are living in community. Surely this must be significant?
Elroy is right. Those first Christians knew all about hierarchy and organization and even corporate structures. But, instead of employing that type of language, they referred to the church as family. And, yes, Elroy, I think this is very significant.
Campfire Fellowship
Jon at “Jon’s Journey” wrote a great post last week called “Fellowship.” After defining fellowship/communion, Jon wrote:
This summer I’ve enjoyed some great fellowship around campfires, on friends decks, around dinner tables, and in living rooms. I’ve had some brief fellowship on Sunday mornings before and after the service. But I think the campfires were the best though.
I like Jon’s statement. First, he doesn’t discount the fellowship that he has with other before and after “church services.” But, he recognizes that he can also have fellowship (and at times, deeper fellowship) at other times.
By the way, I like campfire fellowship too. I also like coffee shop fellowship, and fellowship in homes and parks. In fact, the way our meeting is set up, we have great fellowship when we meet together as the church.
Where do you like to fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ?
Missing the Target
Our target is to be like Christ. Right? That’s what Paul says:
…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… (Ephesians 4:13 ESV)
Imagine that all of your beliefs, traditions, practices, everything were rolled up into one score and placed on a target (like a dart board) in relation to your distance and direction from being “like Christ.” Obviously, no one would hit the bulls eye.
Now, imagine that other people’s “mark” were placed on the target (like other darts on the dart board) in relation to their distance and direction from being “like Christ.”
Would we be more comfortable with those who scored closer to us, or to those who scored closer to being “like Christ” but on the other side of the target from us?
If we can figure out why most are more comfortable with others who are closer to them instead of others who are closer to Christ, we may understand why we don’t live in and demonstrate the unity that we have in Christ.
What do you think?
Sincere love makes the greatest difference
My friend Danny (from “learning…“) met with us for just over a year. Then, a couple of weeks ago, he moved to Williamsburg, VA. In his post, “A Wonderful Body of Believers,” he talks about the time that he spent with us. I can’t think of a better compliment that what Danny says:
During my time at SEBTS there have been many who have befriended me over the years and blessed me in some way. As an encouragement to you I would like to share about some of them and what they did for me . These people did things that are not in some method book for discipleship, community, fellowship, or teaching. They were just simply being themselves in the Lord and reached out to me for the bottom of their heart through the gifts the Holy Spirit has given them and used the World’s Goods that God gave them. It is this sincere love for God and people that makes the greatest difference. It is when they were like Christ to me that they ministered the most to me.
Here is a picture of many of the people who gather as Messiah Baptist Church. They have reached out to me as a brother and a son, taken me into their homes, fed me, encouraged me, fixed my car, helped me move, talked about (walked with) Jesus and the Bible, talked philosophy, showed me how to love others, even let me use my gifts in the Lord to encourage, teach and comfort them, and much much more. With out neglecting structure at the proper times all this was mostly spontaneous.
I would like to say more but our (and “Messiah Baptist’sâ€) real boast is in the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is he that began a good work in us and will complete it. It is he that is working though us to love, to teach, to understand, to spread the good news and build the Kingdom of God: His kingdom.
I pray that we will treat everyone that God brings into our lives that way that Danny felt we treated him… to God’s glory and for the advancement of his Kingdom! I can also tell you that Danny was a huge encouragement to all of us!
By the way, Danny includes a picture of some of the people that we meet with in his blog post.
Getting Ready for a Birthday Party
As I mentioned in a few of my Ethiopia itinerary posts, I missed my daughter’s, Miranda’s, birthday because it was my last day in Ethiopia. (I drank a soft drink called Mirinda in her honor that day.)
Miranda and her friend Lindsay decided to have a joint birthday party between their two birthdays to celebrate. That joint birthday party is today, and I’m certainly NOT going to miss THIS!
They have a big day planned. They’ve invited over forty of their friends. They’ve asked some people to plan some games for everyone. Everyone will eat pizza and cupcakes. Then, when it gets dark, we’re all going to watch a movie outside using a projector that they’ve borrowed.
Yesterday, while we were getting ready for the party, we had to test the cupcakes and the projector outside. It was so much fun hanging out with our friends and getting ready for the party. It was almost a party getting ready for the party!
Anyway, I wish we could invite all of you to join us today. I think it will be a great day to celebrate these two young ladies.