Don't go to church!
"Going to church.", "Attending church." and "Leaving church."
These are shorthand phrases. They mean more than they say, but I wonder how these sentences, at their basic level, indicate an objectification of "church" as an address, a building or an event. If church is an address, we can choose to bypass it on our way to another destination. If church is a building, we can opt not to enter. If church is an event, we can decide that our calendars are too crowded to "do church" on a particular day.
The Eastertide lessons from the Acts of the Apostles have had me thinking about church. The early church wasn't a property, it was a people. The early church didn't have programs to address "felt needs", it simply behaved as a community devoted to the "apostles' teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers." Worship wasn't an end in itself, but prepared these early disciples for their ministry and mission in their daily lives outside the eucharistic community.
The church in Acts wasn't idyllic. There were folks who grumbled about this or that. There were significant theological disagreements. The Jerusalem church's early experiment with communal living was less than a success. Some of the early leaders figured out the best way to work together was to walk apart.
The early church had no coordinated program of outreach (unless you count street preaching). There was an occasional offering taken, but there was no comprehensive budget (or any economic stability for that matter). For the most part, the church in Acts is a hodgepodge gathering of people whose only bond seems to have been that they had received the message of Jesus as crucified and risen Lord -- and that seemed to be enough. There was no real coordination of missional efforts -- so I'm sure there was duplication and confusion. The addition of followers to this living Way was uneven and unpredictable (from 3000 souls on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem to 1 Ethiopian eunuch in a chariot near Samaria).
Most of the leadership was uneducated and uncooth. They kept getting thrown in jail -- their crime? Preaching this Jesus movement. One of them, Stephen, got himself stoned to death because of his testimony before the court when he was on trial (on trial!!!) for being a follower of Jesus. And what happened after Stephen's execution? Did this pitiful band of ragtag, improperly organized folks go into hiding and rethink their mission or modify their message so that it would attract less attention on the part of the authorities?
Nope...they simply kept talking about the Gospel -- and not only to each other over the first century equivalent of coffee and kringle...but to the people they interacted with as they went about their lives.
At the risk of sounding simplistic -- they weren't people who went to church...they were the church that went to people.
And the result? At one point in the book of Acts someone says of this underimpressive but indefatigable group, "They have turned the world upside down."
Turning the world upside down...that sounds a heck of a lot more exciting than going to church.
"Going to church.", "Attending church." and "Leaving church."
These are shorthand phrases. They mean more than they say, but I wonder how these sentences, at their basic level, indicate an objectification of "church" as an address, a building or an event. If church is an address, we can choose to bypass it on our way to another destination. If church is a building, we can opt not to enter. If church is an event, we can decide that our calendars are too crowded to "do church" on a particular day.
The Eastertide lessons from the Acts of the Apostles have had me thinking about church. The early church wasn't a property, it was a people. The early church didn't have programs to address "felt needs", it simply behaved as a community devoted to the "apostles' teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers." Worship wasn't an end in itself, but prepared these early disciples for their ministry and mission in their daily lives outside the eucharistic community.
The church in Acts wasn't idyllic. There were folks who grumbled about this or that. There were significant theological disagreements. The Jerusalem church's early experiment with communal living was less than a success. Some of the early leaders figured out the best way to work together was to walk apart.
The early church had no coordinated program of outreach (unless you count street preaching). There was an occasional offering taken, but there was no comprehensive budget (or any economic stability for that matter). For the most part, the church in Acts is a hodgepodge gathering of people whose only bond seems to have been that they had received the message of Jesus as crucified and risen Lord -- and that seemed to be enough. There was no real coordination of missional efforts -- so I'm sure there was duplication and confusion. The addition of followers to this living Way was uneven and unpredictable (from 3000 souls on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem to 1 Ethiopian eunuch in a chariot near Samaria).
Most of the leadership was uneducated and uncooth. They kept getting thrown in jail -- their crime? Preaching this Jesus movement. One of them, Stephen, got himself stoned to death because of his testimony before the court when he was on trial (on trial!!!) for being a follower of Jesus. And what happened after Stephen's execution? Did this pitiful band of ragtag, improperly organized folks go into hiding and rethink their mission or modify their message so that it would attract less attention on the part of the authorities?
Nope...they simply kept talking about the Gospel -- and not only to each other over the first century equivalent of coffee and kringle...but to the people they interacted with as they went about their lives.
At the risk of sounding simplistic -- they weren't people who went to church...they were the church that went to people.
And the result? At one point in the book of Acts someone says of this underimpressive but indefatigable group, "They have turned the world upside down."
Turning the world upside down...that sounds a heck of a lot more exciting than going to church.
posted by FrGaryB | 8:17 AM
1 Comments:
We have way too many books, programs and conferences today that tells us what is wrong with church or why men don't go to church. We are told if we do perform a certain way or have certain programs then we will reach out to the post modern group. We are told that a church cannot be focused on the members inside but must focus on the members of the community outside the church. If we are strongly focused on those outside the church then we are not helping to develop those that come into the church. Basically nobody will attempt to tell how to get men to come to church.
As modern christians we are too focused on our formulas that will guarantee happiness, wealth, good health or children that excel in life and do the right things. If we don't have those things then it must be something wrong with what we are doing because we have checked off all the right items.
It seems that we, and that includes myself, have forgotten that God is the goal and His presence is the prize. I will continue to strive for that goal with the knowledge that it will still slip through my fingers no matter how hard I close my fist. I will still stumble over the blessings, health, wealth and children items as I reach for that goal. I will still fail and let down people but I am trusting that as I stumble through this life I can reach the goal and share in the prize from time to time.
Be blessed,
David
Post a Comment
<< Home