Part 2 - MISSED YOU AT CHURCH SUNDAY

A man got lost as he was driving on a business trip.  Seeing a farmer mending fences next to the road, he stopped to ask directions.

Businessman: “Excuse me, sir, can you tell me where Highway 35 is?”

Farmer: “Uh, nope. I don’t rightly know.”

Businessman: “Oh, ok. How about Interstate 49, do you know how to get to that?”

Farmer: “No sir, I sure don’t.”

Businessman: “Hm. Then can you point me in the direction of the town Grangerville?”

Farmer: “Sorry bub, I just don’t know.”

Businessman: “Man! You don’t know much, do ya?!”

Farmer: “Sure don’t. But I ain’t lost.”

Back in the day when I used to do concerts and retreats and seminars I would tell this joke.  Not only was it good for a laugh, it also communicated a little bit of truth:  oftentimes I don’t feel like I know much…I sometimes have more questions than answers. But in the long run I know I’m not lost. 

I know I’m not “lost” on this church thing, but neither do I have all the answers.  My questioning and thoughts on my last blog about church stirred the pot quite a bit.  Lots of readers, lots of comments, lots of sharing my site with others. Fortunately, no one was in-your-face ugly to me. Bear with me as I dive in this subject one more time to clarify some things, reply to some feedback, and encourage those that think I’ve become one egg short of a dozen.

Yes, I had a rough go of it the last few years as a career minister. (Side bar - there are so many titles when you serve in a church:  minister, called-staff, pastoral associate, career minster, etc., etc.  Just know that I use all of those terms interchangeably without thought to a deeper meaning.) No details, but suffice it to say that my questionings of today come from the struggles of the past.  It taints my view of everything “church.” HOWEVER, I’m also a mature (and maturing) Believer who is staying true to Philippians 2:12:  “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  I’m not satisfied to remain settled, set and stiff-necked in what has always been.  I want to continually seek that true, open, honest, transparent relationship with the Three in One, even if it means turning some of my former understandings on their head.

I stand by my statement that most Believers of this day and age tend to have lost sight of true church.  I believe we have settled for the brick-and-mortar church over the person-to-person church that Christ intended. For the most part, I see today’s church more like a club, where everyone tends to look the same, act the same, smell the same, and invite people who are the same. We pay our membership fees (tithes or donated items) and in return we expect to get fed and be comfortable and claim selfish ownership. (I’m not foolish enough, though, to believe that every church is this way, but in my own experience this is more than true.)

The Matthew 18:20 church that I referenced in my last blog is the person-to-person church that I believe Christ intended true church to be.  Now hear me:  I am not saying that corporate, organized gatherings of Believers is wrong.  I do believe that Paul’s and the Apostles’ examples of ministry in structured groups of Believers teaches us that these are good and important gatherings.  I also believe that many of the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit gives us are for these corporate times.

Wait a minute, Deloy.  You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth.

No I’m not.  What I am saying is that instead of being about relationships (both with God and man), the red-bricked, stained-glassed church of today has let the person-to-person church go by the wayside.  It’s become all about “y’all come” instead of “let’s go be Jesus.”  It’s become all about selfish desires of the few instead of everyone being open to where God is leading.  It’s become dependent on pastors and ministers satisfying our needs instead of allowing them to lead us to meet other’s needs.  It’s created CEO pastors instead of pastors that can be our friends and co-laborers in Christ.

Am I crazy? Have I lost my spiritual eyesight because of some crappy experiences? 

Maybe so, maybe not. I'm trying to figure this out.  But I do have more than a little experience to speak from.  That said, here’s a few things I personally think the carpeted, air-conditioned churches of today need to do to be more like the true person-to-person church that God intended:

*Get rid of Sunday night programs and instead go out into the world.  Go rake leaves (unannounced) at someone’s house.  Go to the local restaurant and sit at the bar, order a drink (alcohol or not, your choice) and get to know the sinners sitting there.  (I promise, there’s almost always a handful of lonely people sitting there.)  Go hold a nursing home resident’s hand and watch TV with them.  Buy some burgers and walk around downtown handing them out to the homeless. QUIT MAKING CHURCH ABOUT YOU and go out to the world!

*Take pastors out of the business of having to be Chief of Operations at the church.  They should be all about preaching the Word and leading you to serve others.  Piling on so many expectations of the ministerial staff will do one of two things:  make them isolated, over-whelmed, negative, fearful or make them out-of-touch power seekers, or a combination of both.   

*Quit expecting the ministerial staff be the hospital visitors, sick-people-prayers, crisis attenders.  When did we ever get to a point that paid staff members are supposed to take our places in ministry?  Those ministries have been assigned to every one of Christ’s followers.  Do we pay our ministers to take our place ministering?  Yes, I’m afraid we do. That needs to stop.

*Consistently meet in homes.  That brick-and-mortar building should not be the only place for corporate church.  It should be in our neighborhoods and homes on a regular basis.  Otherwise, we isolate that organized body of Believers from the very ones we should be near.

*Quit making our sanctuaries some holy, sacred, hats-off, no-drinks-or-food-allowed place.  We gather to worship the Godhead who lives in us, not in that cavernous auditorium.  The sanctuary is simply a room where we get together.  It is NOT the Holy of Holies.  (In fact, if I remember my scripture correctly, when Christ died the veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the world was torn.)  Stop making your traditional beliefs into something spiritual so that everyone feels required to do what you want them to do.

*Stop being a performance-driven church.  (Hold on to yer hat with this one.)  I believe that huge “outreach” programs have become an excuse for us to not go out into our world.  We spend tremendous amounts of money and time on performances and programs to get people to come to us instead of us meeting their needs where they are.  Sure, the intention is good, hoping people will come to hear about Christ.  But such emphasis requires too much selfish (church-only) preparation time. And these “outreaches” can easily become idols and sacred cows.  Also 99.9% (ok, another number I pulled out of the air) of the folks that attend are already Believers. “But what about the non-Believers that attend?” Well, I betcha Christ would rather you go to those unBelievers one-on-one, and create personal relationships with them.  I’ve been a part of this performance culture, and I can state for a fact that no matter how hard it’s tried, those non-Believers are rarely, if ever, ministered to on a personal basis once they leave the walls of that building. It simply turns into a numbers game, whether we intend it to or not. “Oh, we had 1,000 people attend our Jesus Festival Concert! Praise the Lord!”  “Did you hear how many people raised their hands during the invitation?!”  “Let’s try to get over 100 people in choir for this performance! God is worthy of our participation.” (I don’t believe these outreaches are inherently bad.  I just believe the church needs to re-think and re-look at how these are carried out.)

OK, this was a lot of stuff.  I hope I’ve made my thoughts clear and my intentions have been expressed nobly.  I do believe that there is a place for corporate church and church-in-a-building.  I simply don’t believe that it is what it’s supposed to be today.  I think it needs to be more servant-hearted and less self-serving.  More people-church, less building-church.

Am I crazy? 

Feel free to leave a comment on this blog page.  You'll simply need to assign it to "anonymous". 

MISSED YOU AT CHURCH SUNDAY

Have Believers lost the true meaning of CHURCH?  I never really questioned this until I joined the ranks of Christian misfits. You know what I mean: the older single person that goes to a congregation with no singles ministry; the bus ministry kids; the lone African American person or family in an all-white fellowship; the Christian struggling with an ongoing addiction; the homosexual looking for a place to worship;  the family who can't find a Bible study class for their special needs child; the separated Christian couple on the verge of divorce; the burned-out religion-weary former minister.....

Press any Evangelical Christian to answer the question, "What is church?" and they will more than likely respond with, "It's a body of Believers" (that's church-speak for "it's a group of people who say Jesus Christ is their Savior"), and then they'll most probably mention Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.” That's what I grew up believing. Yet truth be known, 95% of Christians out there  (ok, I admit I pulled that number out of the air) don't consider "church" to be "church" unless they've entered that red bricked, white-steepled building, listened to a preacher and sung songs led by a worship leader.  Would you agree with me on that? (I don't like to be wrong...you know I'm right.)

I am definitely not one that believes anymore that "church" has to be a service in a sanctuary, or a chapel, or even a Sunday School classroom. I am more and more convinced that church is also whenever me and any other Believer(s) get together and our conversation becomes spiritual. Period. No worship leader, no preacher, no pews, no Bible necessary. Matthew 18:20 all the way, baby.  I believe that when my friend Randy was in town and made it a point to come visit me in my office and we talked about our kids and our jobs and our spiritual journeys, that was church.  And we didn't even pray (not even a blessing over our Sonic lunch...gasp).  I believe that when a co-worker and I had a conversation in the warehouse about a new praise song and how much it meant to each of us, that was church.  I believe that when my oldest daughter and I had a conversation about what God was showing me about prayer, that was church. 

Which leads me to this: have you ever told anyone (or been told), "I've missed seeing you at church."? Do you know what that statement means to me nowadays? It means we think you should get up off of your butt and meet us in that red bricked, white-steepled building on Sunday mornings because we're too busy and you're not quite important enough for us to make the effort to "be church" with you any other time or any other place.  We'll be glad to do church with you if it revolves around that building and its property and its programs and you make the effort to attend. But any other time and place that requires MY effort to come to you? Sorry...I'm too busy getting ready for meeting-in-the-building church to BE the church.

Yes, I said that. It may not be as callous as I make it out to be, but I believe it still boils down the same.

So, as one who now resides on the Island of Misfit Christians, I'm not quite sure about that big, carpeted, stained-glassed building.  In fact, it intimidates me and makes me anxious. But I am interested in church.  Matthew 18:20 church. Me-and-you church. 

(I think my copy of the Baptist Faith and Message just spontaneously combusted.  That's ok.  I don't need it to have church.....)