Questions
What is a church? A building? A Sunday morning sermon? A collection of activities to sign up for? A family? A community? (What is a community?) A structured organization with a hierarchy? Or a network of relationships defined by intercommunication? An entity defined by the numbers filling chairs, or by the quality of lives and relationships lived?
For what purpose is church? Administering right doctrine? Maintaining tradition? Reading scripture? Reading the culture and signs of the times? Embracing new ways of seeing and experiencing God? Motivation for evangelism? A place to learn how to listen to those from whom we differ? An opportunity for personal and relational growth?
For whom is church? Pastors? Believers? Seekers? Agnostics? Atheists? Buddhists? Those who hate religion but hunger for spirituality? Those who fear Christians, but who think Jesus is all right? Men? Women? Children? White, black, brown, etc.? Rich? Poor? The mature and wise? The mentally ill and developmentally delayed?
How will we answer our questions about church? Ministerial dictums? Discussion? Discussion between a select few? Discussion between the believers at large? Discussion with the unchurched? Through scripture? Through interpretation? Whose interpretation? With the Holy Spirit? With fear and trembling? With a preference for whatever will most efficiently help numbers increase? With care for those currently suffering due to the answers we have chosen, or have been unable to choose?
When will we decide? Behind the times, or ahead of them? When we feel comfortable? When we feel threatened? When we believe that the believers in agreement will outnumber those who are upset? When bitterness boils over? When we learn to take concerns and input from all equally?
And in the meantime, who besides God will hear my questions?
October 30th, 2005 at 11:31 am
Who will hear your questions? Why do Sunday mornings feel meaningless? Why does a ballooning church budget feel extremely ineffective? Why do members feel ostracized for having a different opinion? Why do leaders insist we have blind faith in them just because they are “leaders”? Why do none of my friends want to come to church, saved and unsaved alike?
October 30th, 2005 at 3:31 pm
At least there is still pizza to be had!
October 30th, 2005 at 5:38 pm
Darn good questions! Somebody better be available to hear them!
October 30th, 2005 at 11:33 pm
Multiple choice was always my favorite, but wow! We hit the tip of that ice berg in our small group last week. Our church is just beginning the search for a new pastor (the last one was getting it on with a married member of the congregation… NOT the particular one he was married to). Questionaires were distributed to the small groups, with a very basic version of your questions. Asking the questions is step one. It provoked some great discussions on where our church is and where we should be. I’m anxious to see where we go. Between you and me and… well, everyone now, joining a church other than the one I spent 30 years in was a very eye-opening experience. Some churches are just spinning their wheels. Some are actually moving forward. Moving forward is fun.
October 31st, 2005 at 4:45 pm
Church – what is it? Great question! There are probably as many definitions as there are people in the “church.” I guess I would have to try to answer with what I believe God intended the church to be, both universally and locally. Simple answer: people interacting for the purpose of loving God and loving others. The interaction of people is what I would call community – in the church it differs from other forms of community because God is included.
Does a church need a building, chairs, video projectors, music, a preacher, etc.? No. Are they tools which can be used to build the church? Yes. Can they get in the way of effective “church?” Yes.
When does church happen? Sunday morning? Most people think so. They place so much value on what happens on Sunday morning for an hour or two that it becomes “church.” Sunday morning is a gathering of the church… Christians coming together to show love for God and, in a limited way, love for others. But that’s not all church is… our fellowship of believers will forever “spin it’s wheels” or disappear if this is our sole expression of church. Church “happens” when and where people gather to show love for God and love for others (believers and non-believers). I believe that God’s love/grace is spread when we multiply groups of believers meeting for the purpose of encouragement (loving others), spiritual growth (loving others), evangelism (another word with heavy baggage – loving others) and serving others (loving others – especially meeting needs of people experiencing pain/difficulties).
What do I want to see in the church I go to? People empowered to serve – individually and in teams. What frustrates me in my church? People who always seem to be waiting for someone else to serve them. My firm belief – every person who gives their life to Jesus needs to be serving others.
When I feel that I am not being “fed” or that “church” is not “meeting my needs,” it usually means God wants me to step out in a new way that will challenge my faith, cause me to grow. I am convinced that God often works through “Godly discontentment.” Feel like something is missing? God is working on you to grow. God is nudging you to get more involved in prayer, study and serving others. I need to constantly be asking myself, “Where is God leading me/us to serve?” People typically won’t grow/change unless they feel a sense of wanting more/discomfort.
It seems like some people who grow up in church have a hard time understanding this. “Church” becomes a culture in which personal and interpersonal relationship with God is only a shadow of the vibrant and exciting relationship He intended… take a look at the enthusiasm of new believers! Why the disparity? Somewhere along the line the privilege (being accepted by God) and purpose of “church” is lost in the minds of “members.”
Lest I become judgmental, God continues to teach me how difficult it is to understand the relationship others have with God unless I have a close relationship with them. I don’t know how many times I’ve been blown away by the faith-action of people I had never really thought of as being deeply spiritual.
God is good.
October 31st, 2005 at 5:03 pm
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October 31st, 2005 at 5:04 pm
P.S.-Thanks everybody else for the good discussion. I could get used to this.