Ok, it's been what seems like forever since I last posted, so maybe I'm not cut out to be a blogger! Of course, 'till I figure that out, I'll keep up these sporadic,and possibly annoying, posts!
The question bouncing around in our house lately has been "So, what's the role of 'church' and what exactly do we believe about Christ's church?" We've been wrestling with this and in view of the conclusions we've been lead to draw, we're now "churchless". That might shock you, but really all that means is that we've left the body that we had called home since moving here to Sandy, and we're searching for one that supports or practices more of a "family" mentality.
So, what are we looking for in a church? What do we believe? I wish it were a concise and concrete thought, easily expressed and explained, but it's rather more complicated than that (at least at present). I'll do my best to explain what is causing us to break with a traditional protestant, non-denominational mega-church.
What is the church and how does it function in the New Testament? Well, from what I've read, it's a group of people, not a building, and it's really about 'community', as in the group is the 'community'. There is real interaction and relationships in the 1st century church, more like 'family' than just community members. The church was the venue for learning about this Christ and what it truly means to follow Him. Church was the place where love was abounding! Do you have that in your church? I'm pretty sure that there were and are authentic relationships, teaching on the meaning of following Christ and even love within the church body we just recently left. What I'm not convinced of is that the "culture, or atmosphere" of our former church is love and relationships.
What we've been realizing lately is that you really have to know what your goal is in order to decide if something is best for you. (insert some funny analogy here ... I tried one but didn't think it worked) We've been analyzing our goals as parents, as husband and wife, as educators of our children. If our goal as parents is to raise passionate followers of Christ, and our goal of education is to train them up in the 'fear and admonition' of the Lord, and my goal as wife is to submit to my husband's authority and to show all the members of my family love, the love that does what's best for others, and Charles' goal is to pursue Christ and lead his family in Christ, to protect and provide for us and to love us also with a love that does what's best for us, then we should surround ourselves with such relationships as would uphold and support those goals. Honestly, most of those goals most people in the church would affirm as good goals, but... truly, as much as they are biblical and should be supported within the church, not many are on a core level. There will always be some aspect of ministry that will support those goals, but I believe that the 'church' in general is so full of the 'world' that it's only adding those goals or precepts on top of worldly assumptions and habits. I propose that we (the followers of Christ who have affirmed our own sinful state, believe that Jesus paid our penalty on the cross by His death and has purchased eternal life for us in His resurrection and that the Father now reckons our account as paid in full and we am Free, Free, Free from the bondage of sin, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to do good and love others) are called to be in the world, but not of it (Seems I'm not the first to say this - 1 John 2:14-16 says it a little differently). I think all of us within the 'church' have so much 'world' in us that the 'church' can't help but also be full of the 'world'.
Let's take it all back to scripture: Christ is the head of the Church and the husband is the head of the family, given all authority and responsibility for his wife and children (Eph. 5:22-25 ). The wife is to submit to the husband, and be a keeper at home, raising up the children (Titus 2:3-5). The children are to obey the the parents (Eph. 6:1). The parents are responsible for actively training up their children, educating them and leading them toward the real goal, relationship with God (Deut. 6:6-9; Prov. 22:6). We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). We are to be known for our love (John 13:35). We are to love others and share Christ's love with them, sharing the Good News (John 13:34; Matt. 28:18-20).
Now, we want a church that supports and affirms those God-given roles. We don't want a church that allows for the "personality clause." You know, the one that says, "That's just not the type of person I am, I'm not made that way, (ie. I'm not meek and mild, so I just can't submit to my husband all the time, or... I'm not a natural leader, it's not who I am, so I don't have to lead the family because my wife does a good job of it, or... the list of excuses not to obey God goes on and on and on!) so I'll do it this way, or that way, but not the way God says to do it."
We want a church that is about the people, about relationship, about Christ's finished work on the cross, about God's mercy and grace, not about the building, about the worship 'concert' every service, or about the lighting or video capabilities. We want something genuine, not the glitzy emptiness we often encounter.
Editors Note: We found what we were looking for. A local congregation that's all about Christ, all about God's grace and mercy, and all about our obedience to Him. They're all about loving one another, about relationships, about training up men and women, boys and girls, in their scripturaly defined roles. We visited once. It's home now! Home, sweet home!
The question bouncing around in our house lately has been "So, what's the role of 'church' and what exactly do we believe about Christ's church?" We've been wrestling with this and in view of the conclusions we've been lead to draw, we're now "churchless". That might shock you, but really all that means is that we've left the body that we had called home since moving here to Sandy, and we're searching for one that supports or practices more of a "family" mentality.
So, what are we looking for in a church? What do we believe? I wish it were a concise and concrete thought, easily expressed and explained, but it's rather more complicated than that (at least at present). I'll do my best to explain what is causing us to break with a traditional protestant, non-denominational mega-church.
What is the church and how does it function in the New Testament? Well, from what I've read, it's a group of people, not a building, and it's really about 'community', as in the group is the 'community'. There is real interaction and relationships in the 1st century church, more like 'family' than just community members. The church was the venue for learning about this Christ and what it truly means to follow Him. Church was the place where love was abounding! Do you have that in your church? I'm pretty sure that there were and are authentic relationships, teaching on the meaning of following Christ and even love within the church body we just recently left. What I'm not convinced of is that the "culture, or atmosphere" of our former church is love and relationships.
What we've been realizing lately is that you really have to know what your goal is in order to decide if something is best for you. (insert some funny analogy here ... I tried one but didn't think it worked) We've been analyzing our goals as parents, as husband and wife, as educators of our children. If our goal as parents is to raise passionate followers of Christ, and our goal of education is to train them up in the 'fear and admonition' of the Lord, and my goal as wife is to submit to my husband's authority and to show all the members of my family love, the love that does what's best for others, and Charles' goal is to pursue Christ and lead his family in Christ, to protect and provide for us and to love us also with a love that does what's best for us, then we should surround ourselves with such relationships as would uphold and support those goals. Honestly, most of those goals most people in the church would affirm as good goals, but... truly, as much as they are biblical and should be supported within the church, not many are on a core level. There will always be some aspect of ministry that will support those goals, but I believe that the 'church' in general is so full of the 'world' that it's only adding those goals or precepts on top of worldly assumptions and habits. I propose that we (the followers of Christ who have affirmed our own sinful state, believe that Jesus paid our penalty on the cross by His death and has purchased eternal life for us in His resurrection and that the Father now reckons our account as paid in full and we am Free, Free, Free from the bondage of sin, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to do good and love others) are called to be in the world, but not of it (Seems I'm not the first to say this - 1 John 2:14-16 says it a little differently). I think all of us within the 'church' have so much 'world' in us that the 'church' can't help but also be full of the 'world'.
Let's take it all back to scripture: Christ is the head of the Church and the husband is the head of the family, given all authority and responsibility for his wife and children (Eph. 5:22-25 ). The wife is to submit to the husband, and be a keeper at home, raising up the children (Titus 2:3-5). The children are to obey the the parents (Eph. 6:1). The parents are responsible for actively training up their children, educating them and leading them toward the real goal, relationship with God (Deut. 6:6-9; Prov. 22:6). We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). We are to be known for our love (John 13:35). We are to love others and share Christ's love with them, sharing the Good News (John 13:34; Matt. 28:18-20).
Now, we want a church that supports and affirms those God-given roles. We don't want a church that allows for the "personality clause." You know, the one that says, "That's just not the type of person I am, I'm not made that way, (ie. I'm not meek and mild, so I just can't submit to my husband all the time, or... I'm not a natural leader, it's not who I am, so I don't have to lead the family because my wife does a good job of it, or... the list of excuses not to obey God goes on and on and on!) so I'll do it this way, or that way, but not the way God says to do it."
We want a church that is about the people, about relationship, about Christ's finished work on the cross, about God's mercy and grace, not about the building, about the worship 'concert' every service, or about the lighting or video capabilities. We want something genuine, not the glitzy emptiness we often encounter.
Editors Note: We found what we were looking for. A local congregation that's all about Christ, all about God's grace and mercy, and all about our obedience to Him. They're all about loving one another, about relationships, about training up men and women, boys and girls, in their scripturaly defined roles. We visited once. It's home now! Home, sweet home!
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