This thing called 'church'

Let me tell you the story of an old friend, who I'll call Sally. Actually, Sally's story is true, but it is a composite of the stories of several old friends, from another time in my life, not this church, nor of anyone associated with Washington Assembly of God. So, don't try to figure out who I'm talking about!

Sally told me that she no longer attended church services - for several reasons.

First, there were her issues with the pastor! A pastor came to her church, with her support, that turned out to be a disappointment - somewhat lazy in her opinion, a man she felt lacked the wisdom to implement the grand visions he shared with the church. He had money issues, she said. He was over-bearing. Over time she grew disillusioned with and critical of his leadership. Since I never knew him, I don't know if she was accurate in those assessments.

And, there were her complaints about 'not being loved.' At the same time that her attendance became sporadic because of her issues with the pastor, she went through some difficult times in her family and she felt that her church really failed her at that time. "Nobody called me," she complained. When I asked if they knew of her difficulties, if she had called anyone or told any church leaders, she grew angry claiming, "Well, they should have known!" She was indignant. I understood her complaint about less-than-perfect fellow Believers but felt she was really unfair, since by her own admission, she never told anyone she was having a crisis.

And, she told me, "The church I supported for years changed and it just didn't feel like home anymore.' So, Sally decided what many people decide in such situations. She quit going to church, that church, and any church! Her Christianity would be privatized - in her words: 'It's just Jesus and me these days.'

I don't doubt her sincerity, but to use an old cliché, she is sincerely wrong. Here's where it gets really sad, for the Kingdom of Christ and for Sally, though she didn't see it that way, at all.

Our conversation revealed that since she stopped being a part of a local congregation her faith has grown increasingly anemic, her service in the Name of Jesus sporadic at best and truthfully (in her words- nearly none existent), and that her kids have abandoned faith entirely. But Sally, like most people in her place, doesn't see that she had any part in what has happened to her. It is the fault of 'the church.'

By contrast, let me tell you the story of another person. He, too, ran into disappointment with a couple of pastors. One was a petty man, more interested in protecting his position than in truly serving his church. Another lacked real spirituality and drove the church like a business. But, he stuck with the church, went every week, and held his tongue when he wanted to criticize.

He supported his church with more than his attendance. He gave generously of his finances, served in various ministries over the years - teaching Sunday School, doing prison ministry, among other things.

When he ran into problems in his life, like we all do, he reached out to his friends for prayer and support. Some of them fumbled the ball, not really knowing what to do or say, but he loved them anyway. Others were truly supportive.

This man never wavered in his commitment to the Lord and the local church, even in times of disappointment. He has developed a rich and deep spirituality that includes the influence of many others who have contributed to his life along the way. He enjoys real esteem from the members of his church family. His adult children have a high regard for church, each of them involved in serving the Lord with active involvement in their local congregations.

You and I need the Church to thrive spiritually!

God says so with a command that should be quite clear, one that is no conditioned on our personal happiness or fulfilment in our church. He says, "...let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:25, NLT)

In another passage the Lord instructs us about something that we call - interdependence. He says that none of us is complete in ourselves and uses an illustration that is easy to understand. It's a familiar passage from 1 Corinthians.

Let me read it to you from The Message -

"You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts--limbs, organs, cells--but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain--his Spirit--where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves--labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free--are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive." (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, The Message)

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So what is a church?

PEOPLE...

One thing I can tell you with certainty - it isn't the building!

Yes, we commonly refer to the structures where Christians gather for worship as 'church' but the Scripture never once suggests that a building is the 'church.' In the New Testament when you read the word, "church," it is a translation of a word in the original texts that came from the democracy practiced by the Greeks! It is the word, "ekklesia" which interestingly enough was a political word. It means, "those called out." When there was a town meeting to decide some issue, there were men who were qualified to vote, and they were the 'ekklesia.' Bible authors borrow the word and the concept and apply to those that God calls out of the world to be His own people. And, today we use the word, "church' to name those who are His people.

People who have faith in Christ and His Cross and His Resurrection...

And, know this, too; the church is not just your church, or my church, either. The Assemblies of God is not 'the church.' Catholicism, despite what the Pope says, is not 'the Church!'

I was raised among Believers who had an awfully exclusive view about who were actually the 'real' Christians in the world. Not surprisingly, it was 'us!' But, with a more mature understanding of the Bible, I realize that there are many expressions of faith, many ways to worship, and that the qualifier for being 'in the Church' is not

the way one is baptized, or
the liturgy of worship;

it is whether a person is 'in Christ' through faith in the Cross and the Resurrection. Paul reminds us of the breadth of the family of God when he says: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28, NKJV)

What many think is the 'true' church, is more likely an expression of their spiritual training, their personal preferences, their culture, or their socio-economic status.

Christians form congregations, local assemblies of Believers, in many different ways. There are congregation like Willow Creek Church in South Barrington, Ill. It is a gathering of about 30,000 Believers, pastored by Bill Hybels. This mega-group meets on a 140 acre campus in mall-sized buildings! By contrast there are congregations that number less than a dozen that meet in a living room or coffee shop. There are ancient cathedrals that house vibrant congregations in the same cities where little store-front missions bring the Gospel to the 'hood!

Believers may create a highly structured liturgical service led by robed priests, in an evangelical setting like this church, or they may worship with a Pentecostal fervor akin to the chaos of a sporting event!

Jesus promised that "whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you." (Matthew 18:20, CEV) That is true be it a cathedral, a megachurch somewhere in suburbia, or a little mission in Brooklyn.

When we take away all the 'stuff' we hang onto the concept of 'church' what is left is people who love Jesus and each other! That is the essence of 'the church.' Jesus Himself points to that when He says,

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matthew 22:37-39, NIV)

Church is where God calls us into relationships that bring completeness to our spirituality and that bring us to greatest joy and maximum effectiveness in our service to Christ and others.

The best churches are not those where all the people look, think, and act the same way! The best churches are diverse in race, in age, in culture, and in spiritual gifts. In that setting, the Spirit does something marvelous in those who participate. They learn to get over their self-consciousness, to love instead of just 'like' other people. They find that God can use people who are very different, people that in another setting with whom they would choose not to be associated!

This kind of church is much more relational than programmed. The emphasis is not on being big or being first or being great. The focus is first on God and His Presence, and then, on loving people. The music may not always be first rate. The preaching may leave something to be desired. But where there is love and a strong desire to 'be the people of God' something powerful starts to emerge that is Spirit-driven, not programmatic!

The church is often called 'the family of God.'

We used to make that more evident around the churches I grew up in. Everybody referred to everybody else as "brother" or "sister." I used to think it was corny, but I see some genius in that! It was a constant reminder of how we were to be connected.

There is a saying, "You pick yoru friends. You're stuck with your family!" Every family is unique, has characters, and a story. Our extended families help to give us a sense of 'place' in the big, impersonal world that surrounds us. We might not like what they do, we may argue and fight with them - but they are our family and when life is tough, we can turn to them. One of the major problems with these United States today is the death of extended family. We are highly mobile, often separated by hundreds of miles from our mother, father, uncles, aunts, or siblings! Something not so great happens when we don't have the family around to help us to know we're not alone, that we have a history - people who will pop the bubble of our self-delusions and fight with us!

The church family serves a similar purpose. Here we find people who give us grounding, people who love us enough to fight with us, people who are both comforting and irritating, who rub away at our rough edges. Church should be a place where we un-learn our love for Self, and discover the amazing power of loving and being loved.

But that kind of commitment is becoming more and more uncommon both in blood families and spiritual families. If somebody in our family upsets us too much, we just stop talking to them, or throw them out of the family. Divorce is too common, too readily considered as a solution for problems, instead of a radical choice used in the rarest of circumstances.

Christians, do much the same thing by walking off when they are offended and signing up with the church down the road, until somebody there makes them mad! We benefit tremendously when we make a commitment to the church of God that survives the good times and bad times; when we keep on going to church and putting in our tithes when things are going our way and when we feel that the 'family' has failed us.

Honestly, Church isn't always pretty but when it is authentic, it is one of the most beautiful things on earth.

Close -

Believer if you have decided to privatize your faith, let me urge you to re-think that choice.

Start to pray that God will show you where you should plug into His Church.

Remember it is not great music, a stellar youth program, or the preacher who is able to tell a good story that makes a truly great church. Those things may be nice and they will help to initially attract people who are looking for a place to belong. There must be more; much more! There must be spiritual life, a real experience of God's Presence, evidence that people are serious about knowing and doing what He commands.

I urge you to love the church of Jesus Christ. Marry yourself to it! Serve Him as you serve His Church.

Be selfless and inspire others to love Him selflessly, too. Your Christian life will be deepened.

Best of all, the work of God will be done, perhaps inefficiently, but effectively in the world.

Prayer