The Church Monster
My earliest memories of church involve getting dressed on sunday mornings, climbing in the car with my family and all going to church together. Then after church we would go eat with friends, or maybe go home and eat together, then we would basically have the afternoon free until it was time to get dressed again (a bit more relaxed this time) and go back to church for the evening service. Then perhaps we would go out for dinner with friends, or maybe order pizza to take home, or perhaps simply eat left-overs. That was the end of church until wednesday night, which was basically just a time to be entertained, plan for the next big event, and just hang out.
As I have thought through my own journey this story always puts up huge red flags. Not just flags in my own life, but flags deep in my soul that made me think something was fundamentally wrong with the story as a whole. And over the last few years I have come to an understanding that this story is false, not because it didn't happen but because the church within the story was fake. The church I went to didn't exist, at least not for me.
My journey has convinced me that the Church does not exist outside of community. The Church is not the gathering that happens every sunday within the thousands of buildings around the country and world every week. Those are gatherings of Christians for teaching and worship, but I am certain they are not church. Church is not an organization of people but it is the Living, Breathing, Moving, Compassionate, Loving, Salvific, Body of Christ. I am more and more convinced that I have no idea what this means, but it is increasingly hard to find.
I do know that the American Church, could do with a little less church. And most of all we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, to the mindset of our Lord, but then again having Christ as Lord means being his servant. And I personally have yet to live like a servant.
Shalom,
hayne
As I have thought through my own journey this story always puts up huge red flags. Not just flags in my own life, but flags deep in my soul that made me think something was fundamentally wrong with the story as a whole. And over the last few years I have come to an understanding that this story is false, not because it didn't happen but because the church within the story was fake. The church I went to didn't exist, at least not for me.
My journey has convinced me that the Church does not exist outside of community. The Church is not the gathering that happens every sunday within the thousands of buildings around the country and world every week. Those are gatherings of Christians for teaching and worship, but I am certain they are not church. Church is not an organization of people but it is the Living, Breathing, Moving, Compassionate, Loving, Salvific, Body of Christ. I am more and more convinced that I have no idea what this means, but it is increasingly hard to find.
I do know that the American Church, could do with a little less church. And most of all we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, to the mindset of our Lord, but then again having Christ as Lord means being his servant. And I personally have yet to live like a servant.
Shalom,
hayne
posted by Hayne Begley at 3:01 PM
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