So, I have been thinking alot lately (along with some very close friends) about what the church is supposed to be. I think I have come to a few conclusions:
The church is the hand of God on earth. The church is human beings fumbling through everyday life in an attempt to carry on Jesus' work. The church is telling people that without Jesus, life is hollow. The church is you...the church is me. Therefore, I have to ask myself "what am I doing?" What affect do I have?
You see I am very hard on the church. I get pissed about the formulaic, production Christianity that I see up front on any given sunday. Someone is generaly talking about life principles, or steps, or programs. It feels cold, it feels passionless, it feels less than human. But i so easily forget that the church is just me. It is just a bunch of men and women trying to figure it out as they go, just like me. What grandiose answers have I come up with? Where is my plan to live jesus out in my life? Where does the rubber meet the road for me? The answers are simple..."i'm not sure", to all of the above.
For so long in my life I have been cynical and bitter towards the "church". "Church" is simply a place where people congregate together to learn about how to live their lives better. I hated that, the fact that "church" has been taken from a living thing to a structure with 4 walls and a roof. But that is not what it is supposed to be. Church is you, church is me.
Listen, we have been called to be Jesus to people. We have been told to consider others better than ourselves, to clothe the poor, to feed the hungry, to care for the orphan and widow, and to visit the prisoners. Be kind, and merciful, and caring and compassionate. We have to be everything good to everybody. In a word, we must love. We have been charged, not as a group but individually to love others as Christ loved us.
This morning it was flipped on its head for me. I was reading a book, and it quoted the passage in luke (i think) where jesus is separating the sheep from the goats and he says to the good sheep, "When I was hungry you fed me, when i was in prison you came to visit me...". To the bad goats he says the reverse, "When i was hungry you gave me no food to eat...when i was in prison you did not visit me". The punchline?..."when you did this for the least of one of these you did it for me...When you rejected the least of one of these you rejected me". Horrible paraphrasing, I know, but there is something big here that i have missed. I am supposed to be Jesus to the people around me, but the people around me are also Jesus to me. I have to love like Jesus loved me, and I have to love the people around me like they were Jesus. That is really scary. But make no mistake about it, I am the church. That is my task.
How could i be so blind?! I am sitting on my butt complaining about how the church is sitting on her butt! The church is to archaic and produced to reach peoples hearts...and therefore i pledge a bitching session until she wakes up and becomes more affective and relevant. This is ludicrous! So instead of letting this bitterness for the inactivity of the church totally paralyze any potential I would have for the Kingdom, I am going to do something...I am going to BE the church. I just gotta find out how I can do that.
P.S. Know that this is not a shot at anyone else's ideas or journey. We are all on different journies and I respect that. Any hostility you see in this post is directed inward for getting caught up in nothing for far too long. Peace.
~Drifter
3 comments:
I see speshow Dan has made his bi monthly appearance... nice to see.
I like alot of things in this blog Cory. you have come to realize somethings that alot of people never realize. Its something that I stuggle with alot, because I totally see alot of stupid stuff going on in the church, and sometimes I don't want to be apart of that. At my church, its kinda funny because there are some great christians there, but they have been at the church their whole life so they miss alot of the problems in the church.
The thing is, the church is a body, (Christ is the head)... and its so funny for "an arm" to look at the church and say, "hey, this body looks funny... I know! Its missing an arm!" I hope the strangeness of this picture is effective.
Of course, the church is not limited to a building with 4 walls and a roof. But often, that is where we can be most effective for God at some level. Great thoughts Cory... keep on!
Tawmis.
I sure get what you are saying and the journey in it. Please remember to cling to Him in your doing. I have worked 11 years in the Church, and for all 11 of them, I have seen the organizational monster that chews and spits out people who are motivated out of guilt and shame. I know that is not your motivation. When you think deeply about all you are talking about in this blog, please remember the last lines the most. "When you did this to the LEAST of these, you did it to me." And it seems in that in the doing, there is a huge link to being JESUS. I can't help but throw that into the spokes of the wheel here. Seek to be clear on who you are and what it is God has gifted you with. I understand your motivation and the clarity of which you call yourself the Church. That sure is a good starting block. The psalms are full of complaints to God. Last time I looked, that was a profoundly good thing as it allows God to hear our cries. There is not enough dis-satisfaction with the status quo. We love the formula's of Church and we have grown attached to the methods. As we watch the MISSION slide on by and the VALUES fade into black, we have grown so accustomed to doing, we forgot what it meant to BE. Please don't mishear my comment as a critique as much as an addition to all the good stuff you have reflected on hear....peace...
Don't stop blogging now! And stop leaving me hanging as you wrestle through this stuff! Keep writing and keep thinking out loud. I need the dialogue to keep going and if you stop now, I'm going to stop wrestling too!
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