Recently I’ve been thinking about what a real “church” is. You know the rhyme: “Here’s the church, and here’s the steeple. Open the doors, and there’s the people!” Our Senior Pastor, Andy, and I were talking the other day about painting another rhyme on our walls: “Here’s the building, and when you search, open the doors, and there’s the church!” I think we’re onto something.
There’s a natural default mode most of us go to when we think about church. We think of church as a place we “go” instead of something we “are”. We think of church as a gathering based around a service where someone preaches and we sing songs. Honestly, if this is all church is about, count me out because I’m not interested. I think there’s a better way.
About a month ago I took some of my High School kids to North Port Florida, a retirement community close to Port Charlotte. I have a friend there who was placed in a church there that just wasn’t a good fit. So he started making friends at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Wendy’s and the list goes on. He simply wanted to create a place he could bring those friends.
He’d find someone who looked under 50 and say, “Hey, you’re young; there’s not a lot of young people in this town—want to hang out?” That was five years ago, and he had his first worship gathering a month ago with about 50 of those people who have come to faith. Oh, by the way, they don’t have a regularly scheduled worship service AND they don’t have a building. They meet weekly in each other’s houses and eat a lot together.
Two weeks ago I was speaking at a Youth Rally in Pennsylvania. Saturday night when I was done, I made my way to North Philadelphia to an area called Germantown. There, another friend of mine is an associate pastor at a church in a poor neighborhood where they’ve purchased a house they now use as a central location. Here’s the interesting thing: when they have their small groups or their Sunday schools, or their meals, it’s all in people’s houses or apartments in the neighborhood. We had worship the next morning, and I was moved by the diversity in the house. People there seemed like a family even though they were from different economic backgrounds and cultures.
These two places have six things in common. First, they meet regularly in each others houses. Second, they eat together weekly. Third, there’s a huge diversity. Fourth, they reach out to their neighborhoods. Fifth, “church” is not based around a worship service or a sermon. Sixth, Jesus.
Here’s what I’m trying to say—when the bulk of our Christian experience revolves around a weekly sermon and songs, we skip over what church is about. Church is about life together. It’s about sharing with our neighbors, and it’s about celebrating what God’s been doing (hence, weekly cooperate worship).
Maybe you’re wondering, “OK, if I’m the church, what does this look like for me on a daily basis?” Church is the community that happens in the triad of me, my God and my neighbors. It’s about my growing dynamic relationship with Jesus, and it’s about inviting everyone around me to experience what he’s doing.
If “church” is more than what happens one day every weekend, then how are you doing?
“Here’s the building, and when you search, open the doors, and there’s the church.”
David Achata
When we as a an organized church spend the bulk of our collective time, talent, money and other resources developing that weekly sermon and song "service" can we help but have that become the bulk of our collective Christian experience? How can we as a team diversify our resource investment? How can we, (the Hospital Church) avoid being defined only by what happens in our building on saturdays.
ReplyDeleteBrad:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I absolutely agree with your primary point – the weekend worship service should not be the only thing that defines a church. And I understand how the perception might be that we spend the “bulk of our collective time, talent, money and other resources developing that weekly sermon and song ‘service'” because it is the most visual, regular thing that we do. However, I don’t believe it is an accurate understanding. (Spending a day or two with any of our staff would give a clear picture of the very diverse and challenging role each plays.) No doubt, within the past couple of years, as our worship services have grown, there are more people involved in the planning, organizing, and executing than ever before. However, if you were to take a true accounting of the time, individuals, and dollars spent, worship would not be the largest draw.
That being said, I hope you will understand my obvious bias (as the Worship Director) in believing that the opportunities we provide our members and guests to enter into an authentic and relevant worship experience with our Creator are of incredible and inestimable value. My personal opinion is that what happens on Saturday morning at our church is what turns takers into givers and consumers into servants.
When I look around the world I see that “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” The objective of the Hospital Church each and every worship service – in the singing, speaking, acting, leading, etc. – is to fill those in attendance with the Spirit of a living, breathing, and life-changing God so that they can leave that place and make a difference in people’s lives. I see the increase in the amount of individuals who have found a passion for worship ministry and who are now part of our worship teams as a step toward that goal. Each person who participates in this weekly experience is doing what God has asked – using the gifts He has given them to introduce others to their Savior. It is my belief that when individuals become active and engaged in the ministry of their church, this prepares them and empowers them to do the same in their world. And I think that is a great thing for our church to be defined by.
Blessings!
In response to the question: "How can we, (the Hospital Church) avoid being defined only by what happens in our building on saturdays?"
ReplyDeleteI can think of four things:
1. Eat with other believers regularly (and invite your neighbors, friends, coworkers etc... as well)
2. Be Spiritually accountable to a small group of people (ideally, one or two)
3. Share your property (with believers and then neighbors)
4. Together, help those in need.
I heard someone say that the NT community was truly remark-able. It was such that people couldn't help but take notice.
If the bulk of one's Christian experience only happens for an hour a week in a service--that's not much to remark about.
However, if one is a part of a (small) community where all 4 of the things I listed are taking place, then there's something to remark about.
It's not about small groups--it's about healthy relationships. Scripturally, healthy relationships are defined, many times, in the context of the 4 characteristics I listed.
-David