The Church

Here's a paper I recently wrote on the Church...then some new thoughts afterwords.  This one's a doozy but I couldn't compress my thoughts any more than this...brave it if you DARE! haha

Often when we think of a church we think of the building or the programs offered, and our focus is on these aspects. But the Church is not a building and it is not a list of programs; the Church as defined by scripture is the gathering of believers for the worship and praise of God, the edification of the body and the spread of the gospel.

The primary role of the Church is the glorification of God, which is accomplished when the body is edified and the gospel shared. If the focus instead shifts to just one of these purposes, the result is the exclusion of the others and God is not glorified. For example, if a church sees its role solely as that of encouraging and challenging believers, they will become stagnate like a lake with no outlet for all the streams that are pouring into it. As believers, we are made to multiply and expand the body of Christ naturally; it is only when sin enters in that this function is hindered. If we have truly been brought into the body of Christ, if we have experienced the grace and forgiveness of Christ, if we have been rescued from sin and death, we will want to tell other people! How can something so profound as a relationship with a person like Christ be kept quiet? 

It reminds me of a story a speaker told about a man showing up hours late to a meeting and offering the explanation that he'd been hit by a logging truck on the way.  His friends didn't believe him, obviously.  Why not?  Because if you encountered something as huge and powerful as a logging truck, you wouldn't walk away the same-you would be changed forever.  If we truly encounter God, we should be changed from the experience!  Maybe nothing on the outside will change, but our motives, our desires and our thoughts should be impacted every time we meet with God.  If individual believers are daily walking with God in growing relationships with him, he will give both the opportunities and the ability to share the truth of the gospel. It doesn't have to be street preaching, and it doesn't have to be perfect, but the natural outflow of knowing Jesus is to introduce other people to him. When those individual believers in real relationship with Christ gather together, the same will be true-they will naturally tell other people about him. 

If the organization of the church instead becomes focused on building each other up and strengthening the body without recognizing the need for an outpouring of this strength, the church will either die or remain shallow. If the purpose of the Church is only to make strong followers of Christ, what happens when they're made strong? Why do we want to be strong in the first place? If there is no purpose beyond strength in itself, then I'd rather be weak and enjoy the pleasures of this world! But strength is not of value unless it is used for a valuable end; strong believers are useless if they do not use their strength to glorify God, and he is glorified when he is well represented to the world. If Jesus simply meant for us to be holy for holiness' sake, he would have found an easier way than struggling here on earth! He left the Church behind and sent the Holy Spirit so that we would be his witness. 

I don't know of anyone who would claim Christ did not intend for the Church to share the gospel, but many doubt that it is a main function, if not by saying it outright then they show their disagreement in their actions. So many of our churches consist of a list of programs and ministries meant to feed believers, but not for the purpose of expanding God's kingdom. We are content with having an evangelism department of the church or with inviting people from the community twice a year for Christmas and Easter services. For some reason, I don't think Christ meant for us to interact with the world only twice a year. The entire reason he left us here and gave us his Spirit was so that the world would see the reflection of his character through us. We are Christ's body, his ambassadors on this earth, not just as individuals but as a community. The first Church was characterized by a constant multiplication of their numbers and a unified community, not by really good children's programs or a great worship team. If we shift our vision and purpose to the expansion of God's kingdom in our area, the way we do Church will change drastically. Instead of overfeeding ourselves into obese Christians who never exercise our faith and gifts, we will let God lead us into interaction with people who are lost through the programs and forms of the Church and in our separate lives. Then our holiness and strength as followers of Christ will have an outlet in the spread of the gospel, and witnessing will not be compartmentalized to a certain department. Our purpose as the Church is not to have more members or more ministries, but to glorify God through both the edification of our members and the spread of the gospel.

(End of paper...beginning of thoughts)

I hope none of that is seen as confrontational or condescending, because I wrote it as a rebuke to myself.  I have sat in my church and been secretly annoyed by the calls to evangelize to my neighbors, and wished they would just relegate witnessing to the weirdos! haha!  My pastor will love that confession!  Oh boy...but my point is that the struggle to step out of our comfort zones and self-focused lives and realize that there's a bigger purpose in our lives is universal.

This morning I had the incredible pleasure of fellowshipping with a special group of believers, which I'll say very carefully.  Even today I heard a story of a believer from the outside writing extremely descriptive reports of the work amongst the people here online and causing a lot of trouble because of it, so I chose my words carefully.  I tell this to give a different picture of Church, and to ask you to pray for this part of the body of Christ.  There were only a handful of people there, and we sat on mats on the floor of the living room, men on one side of the room and women on the other.  When we arrived, they were in the middle of sharing testimonies, many of which had to do with God's protection of their farms from the recent rains and flooding.  We offered prayer requests and they sang praise songs, which Melissa and I mumbled along to since we only know a few of the words, but the Spirit is the same everywhere!  We prayed together and someone shared from Luke the story of Christ's death and resurrection, teaching in Swahili with scriptures in the heart language of the believers (not English or Swahili btw, which is a big deal to have Bibles in a more specific language than those!).  When we read the account of Jesus asking God to forgive the people, one of the older men shared a story about one of his friends.  His friend had been in a fight with a man from another clan and his arm was cut off, and years later the same man who had cut his arm off became his religious leader.  He had such a hard time dealing with his anger and bitterness that it destroyed him.  The man telling the story encouraged us to forgive like Christ did, to release bitterness and live in peace.  It was cool to hear the truth applied in such a real situation in this culture-tribal and clan violence is a huge tension and the concept of forgiveness that Christ taught is revolutionary.  We sang a few more songs, and closed with prayer and the benediction (May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...etc), again in their heart language instead of English.  Of course, afterwords we drank chai and talked for a while.

This Church is probably very, very different from the typical Easter Sunday service in the US, but that was one of my most favorite of all time!  It is so important for me to connect real people with my prayers and testimonies to other people further outside than I am.  I've barely scratched the surface of understanding this culture or comprehending the difficulty these people have in coming to Christ...it's easy to assume I 'get it', but I'm very aware of how far I am from understanding.  About a week ago, one of my friends randomly started playing this video on their phone, wanting me to see what they're up against.  It took me a few seconds to realize that it was an execution video...at first I just saw the close up on a man's face, then the picture zoomed out and I realized he was kneeling surrounded by masked man and it hit me so hard.  The realization that this man was a fellow believer and he was about to die was so powerful that I had a hard time not reacting outwardly.  I decided not to watch the whole video, knowing what was going to happen and not wanting to put horrible things in my mind pointlessly.  I asked my friend what they thought about the video, and they said it made them angry and sad, but that they trusted God not to let it happen to them.  I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I asked if it made them feel afraid.  They said yes, it did, but again that God would keep it from happening to them.  So I asked, what if God asks you to go to where this is happening?  They didn't really have a strong answer, but I gathered that wasn't really the ideal destination, and that they'd pray to be sent somewhere else, somewhere safer.  This was such an eye opening discussion.  The inner struggle is the SAME.  Yes, we in America risk our reputation, our ego, maybe once in a while we get the chance to put something bigger on the line, and our brothers and sisters around the world lay everything down at once...but the core is the same.  First of all, do we trust God to do what is best for us and for his kingdom, and second of all do we value ourselves (our stuff, our lives, our family) more than God (knowing him, obeying him, glorifying him, telling others the truth)?  The answers to those questions shape our lives as believers, whether we live in Detroit, Vienna or Baghdad. 

I even had a moment of hesitation when I understood what was happening in the video, I think because I have friends who are so close to believing and felt so strongly identified with the man who was killed.  In my mind, I almost immediately heard the question, "Are you afraid?  What would you do?  Do you want your family to see one of these videos one day?"  I'm sorry, that may be very shocking to some people, and I want to be very clear that I am in no physical danger and don't plan on throwing myself into any, so no worries.  But for many of my friends who have chosen Christ or who are struggling between fear and knowledge of the truth, this is reality.  To stand in front of them and tell them "Jesus is worth it.  Don't fear persecution," I have to be willing to say those words myself.  My answer to those questions in my mind came in a flooding peace and determination.  I know the truth and I could never be convinced otherwise, no matter what the cost.  I am realizing that this confidence, this boldness that God has given me (it's a gift, I'm nothing special I promise), may not be for my own sake.  When I share my testimony, when I disciple new believers, I want to impart this solid belief in the worthiness of Christ, or at the very least a desire to be confident and a hunger to be so in love that nothing is too hard.  I want the Church here to be like the first church, blessed with both boldness and wisdom, ready for the fight but not foolishly provoking a beating either. 

It's incredible how the body of Christ works...I'm amazed at how connected we truly are and I pray that no matter how complicated or painful it is to stay aware and engaged in the Church in persecuted areas, that we'll have the love and courage to feel with them and share their burdens.  After all, we're all running the same race, and we're on the same team.