The Church, according to Me

I had a good laugh today. I was emailing back and forth with my friend, Amy. Amy is one of those people with whom I can be completely honest, and whether or not she agrees with me, she doesn't hold anything against me. Nor do I hold it against her when she gets all girly mushy and emotional. She's that kind of girl. She wants to experience life and love fully, yet she's also rational and allows common sense to rule over emotion...sometimes. :)

So we were emailing about her search for a church home. Aren't we all in that quest? Okay maybe not. Having just moved back to Dallas, we are getting ready to church-hunt. I hate that. Hate is a strong word, but I really don't want to be one of those people who goes from church to church, looking to 'fit in' or whatever it is we all want. As a teenager, I went to one church, served in that church and loved the people of that church. No, things were never perfect because we are imperfect people, but that's what life is about - learning to grow, love in the midst of imperfect situations. Anyway, I don't want to be one of those church-hopper people. I believe in committing to something, committing to people because that's where I should be. Because that's where I can serve, love, grow, be.

So when Amy was sharing with a few friends about her quest for a church home, someone made this comment to her, "Just remember, we go to church only to worship Christ! Not for our comfort or our pleasure!!!"

Oh, my. If you know me, you know that this kind of comment is just waiting for me to come stab with my opinionated, narcissistic mouth.

Okay, what is the church? Or what should the church be? I don't know what the church is because it's been a while since I've been involved in one sole church. In Kansas, it was kind of a joke - our attempt with church, and last year...well, ok.

So I can't judge what I don't know. But here's what I'm thinking a church was in the NT and maybe what people are called to be.

I think the church should be a people not a location. Yes, those people gather in a physical place, some kind of building (a home, a big metal structure, a brick building, whatever), but they are people coming together to do something, right?

I do understand what the girl was trying to say with the comment about how church should be to worship Christ. Yes, that's what people do when they come together. They usually sing some songs, say a prayer and listen to someone teach/preach. It's the typical American structure, and it has its place.

The thing is that I believe there's more to it than just that. In a typical American setting, it's become a social club of facades and a program. Again, that has its place, but don't we want more than that?

I want to be involved with a group of people who worship Christ but not just with a song or dance. There are more ways to worship than just that. How about knowing people so well that you know when they have needs and can meet those needs? And it's not always about money. Sometimes people need help with their kids, need an hour away to get errands done and need a babysitter. Sometimes people do need a meal or help with their electric bill. How about meeting needs?

Yes, teaching is great. But how about taking it a step further and talking about how that could apply to our lives in whatever situations...but that involves knowing people beyond surface level.

I was reading about how back in New Testament days, many gatherings (churches) only had 1 Bible to share. So when they got together for 'church,' they would sit and talk about it, discuss it, have theological conversations. How about that?

One of the main reasons they took up 'offerings' back then was so that when someone was in need, they had $$ to give them. It wasn't to pay the pastor. Now, don't get me wrong. The American setting has its place. Yes, pay the pastor. But how about literally meeting others' needs when they really need something? How about feeding the hungry? How about helping single parents? 'Mentoring' single-parent kids? How about really loving people who don't know God? That doesn't mean shunning them from our lives. It means embracing everyone through everything. (Yes I'm on my soap box again.)

I want for my kids to be raised with the kind of people who don't stare at or much less gossip about weirdos but love them because we ARE them.

We have been way too caught up in perfecting church, in perfecting programs, that we have forgotten what it means to be THE CHURCH. It should be people with whom we can grow, by whom we are challenged and who love us (and who we love) through life. It's not a building of people. It IS people, imperfect people. It's loving hard, and loving through the hard.

So the point is taken - church is about, as the girl said, 'praising Christ.' Right. Praising Him involves way more than a song, a program and people asking but not really meaning, "Hi, how are you." "I'm good, how are you?" Praising Christ involves loving, which means I have to know them in order to serve them however I can.

Not the end, but the end for now.

Oh, and as for Amy, because she wants to experience love completely, she'll find a church, a people. She, among so many others, is my church.