When you think of church, what do you think of? Most of us tend to think of a building, a sanctuary, etc. You see - if you study the Bible - more specifically the New Testament book of Acts - this is not the case. Thus the $1,000,000.00 question; how much are we like the 1st century church today in 2009?
I struggle with this...having grown up a pastor's kid, basically "going to church" all of my life, and having served on staff at 4 churches; have we missed something in our endeavor to have a deeper relationship with God?
This pastor says yes! You see the Bible teaches that as believers in Christ, we are the church!! If you lived in the 1st century after Pentecost, you wouldn't have ever said, "I am going to church today." It would not have made sense. The 1st century church was not made of bricks and mortar, but of flesh and bone. We are the church!
Matter of fact, as a father of three, I have tried to be very intentional in the words I use with my children as it relates to church. For example, I do not want them to only associate "church" as a place, so I choose not to say the words, "We are going to church." Instead, I might say, "today, we are driving to Pageland to worship the Lord together."
You may say that it really does not matter. I beg to differ. Our view of "church" touches every aspect of our lives and our view of God himself. This is especially true in the volatile ever-changing church movements today. Among the many church movements and the latest fads, a lot of churches try to copy what another church is doing. Several years ago, everyone was trying to duplicate Saddleback Church by doing the "40 days of Purpose". Is it wrong to do some of these campaigns that reach people? Absolutely not! However, we must be careful to understand that what works in California does not always work in the same community in South Carolina. Each community is different and more importantly is the role of the Holy Spirit in blessing our outreach efforts.
Having said that, this 38 year old pastor is making a renewed commitment to not try to mimic the latest church movement, but to be the unique body of Christ we are and to model ourselves after the 1st century church. Go back and read Acts; some awesome things were happening amidst tremendous persecution. I want to be a part of something bigger than myself just like Paul, Silas, Peter, and those guys were. Do you?
May we step forward and be the church Jesus intended us to be!
well said!
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