Be church

Some random thoughts . . .

A few months ago I read The Irresistable Revolution. It fueled my thoughts about church. You see, I've been convinced for some time that there is something out of kilter with the church of 2008. Not just your church or my church, but church (I'm spreading my arms to indicate all churches).

Recently I attended a series of lectures. The man from my church was describing what we believe. He was making distinctions between the "non-negotiables" and the matters of opinion. I was agreeing with his description of the fundamentals of faith. A man from another church stood up and said, "We don't spend a lot of time thinking about theology. We just tell people about Jesus." Zing. He wasn't being mean or arrogant; he was genuinely puzzled by our focus.

I've heard a lot of people talk about "the worship wars" that have caused such pain over the past decade or two. I've seen good, kind people become outraged and demand that their way is the right way to "do church."

Perhaps there is a reason the New Testament doesn't give us a specific set of rules for the right way to DO CHURCH. We all know that the text does not specify a capella singing or instrumental worship. It doesn't tell us how large or how small a church body should be. It doesn't outline the rules for Bible classes or sermons or when the prayers should appear in the order or worship. In fact, it doesn't mention an "order of worship." :-)

I believe that when God inspired scripture, he gave us all the important stuff, so I have to conclude that how we do church wasn't high on his list.

Perhaps it's because we aren't supposed to do church at all....... we are supposed to be church. Now, the next step is to unpack all that THAT means.