What is "church"?... and other thoughts... 2nd Edition

Following a post from a friend of mine on Facebook, I sifted back through my years and years of blogs to see how I've evolved in my ideas on 'church' and what it looks like to follow some of these formulas that we see all around us in the megachurch -- here is the post from years ago that I was searching for... after reading it, I realize my views have not changed much.

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Recently, I have found myself progressively more challenged, almost burdened, with the concept of "church". The large Sunday morning gatherings are becoming less and less impressive to me if they are not, first and foremost, accompanied with the truth that "church" should just as easily be happening at your home and in your neighborhood around you as it is from 10:00 - 11:00AM Sunday mornings. It could be argued that most churches talk to this concept of church done at home - yet, and I ask you to be honest with yourself, is the congregation really doing it? I've witnessed a serious categorizing of home life and church life even amongst some of my closest friends. The 'awe of God' is gone and we have, in our personal lives, morphed Him into a predictable, limitable, and flexible God - which He is not. I swing from one end of the pendulum - enabling these behaviors - to the other end - desiring to hatefully, and without remorse, 'skin' these Christians of all their false fronts only to leave them beaten and bloody and full of disdain towards me. In the midst of finding the appropriate tension between these two spectrums, I wrestle with the uneasiness of not knowing what I feel God is calling us to. When I say 'us', I mean Christians as a whole as well as Kyle and I personally.

A few months ago, Doxa (our home church in West Seattle), decided to kick the prayer movement of the church into high-gear. Most churches have a 'prayer ministry', this is true. But we decided to go from a ministry that you COULD get involved in, if you so desired, to a calling that everyone SHOULD be involved in. Five pieces of paper were handed to each person as they walked into the service. You were to write your name on each piece of paper then move from your comfy pew and begin praying for God to reveal to you who was supposed to pray for you during the coming week. You approached each of these people individually and asked, "(Name), will you pray for me this week?" Uncomfortable? Yes. Humbling? Yes. Enriching? Yes.

A place for the 'non-christian'? Absolutely not.

I have decided in my own heart that the cultural idea of 'church' - Saturday/Sunday services involving worship from the stage and words from the pulpit - is NOT for the non-believer. I have yet to attack the entire Word of God with regards to this idea, but have begun seriously seeking some foundation for what my spirit is telling me. In reading through Acts, I have become more and more aware of the personal ministry being done in neighborhoods and on street corners as opposed to the temple. The temple is where the 'believers' gathered -- it is where the 'non-believers' came AFTER they became believers on the streets of the city! The street is where the ministry was happening! My heart longs for, and the bible continues to affirm my desires, that church should be where we can gather in aweful worship to the Living God, seek genuine prayer, talk openly about pornography addiction, abortion, and alcoholism and other diseases without the weight of whether or not we've offended someone. My desire is to reach a place of authentic communication amongst the believers so that we can be a network of support as we reach the community around us. THIS is what I want for 'church' and I'm beginning to believe that God is calling Kyle and I to something not unlike what my heart is screaming for.

I cannot sit back and assume a restful position as of yet, these are simply thoughts that knock around in my head day-in and day-out and fine-tuning is needed - likely up to the moment I see God's glory for myself. Please know that my heart simply dreams of something different then what I'm seeing at the neighborhood churches around me... I long for Katie to know and understand the stories of God through interaction with the kid down the street as opposed to the felt-board stories of Sunday school... I dream that the prayer I pray over her every night - that God would continue to reveal His love, His grace, and His spirit to my daughter - would become such a tangible experience for her amongst this anti-supernatural culture she lives in that she will be SHOCKED that not everyone sees it...

Oh... am I naive? You wonder why I can't just be pleased that non-christians are walking through the doors of a church and are about to interact with people who will love and accept them. You wonder why it can't be that you should be praised for inviting your neighbor to church - "what guts that takes!", you say. But I beg you to see it differently. See your home as the place for ministry - don't use the church building as a scapegoat to not be seeking the Living God on a daily basis and instead leave it up to the pulpit and whoever's behind it on Sunday... see yourself as the teacher, the pastor, the priest and recognize your personal priesthood when it comes to sharing God's grace, love, forgiveness, and acceptance. And one thing more, walking through the doors of a church is no 'accident'. There's no reason to dumb-it-down for the non-christians! Pray out loud, let church go longer than an hour and read the Word verbatim if need be! The newcomers will not be shocked... in fact, they will most likely be relieved - seeing as the last 3 churches they've visited began with a puppet-show and ended with a secular song but provided no Truth. They've needed to know who to talk to about the affair, who to run to instead of the addiction, who to lean on for accountability and who to talk to about the consequences of a decision they are about to make...

THEY NEED TO TALK TO JESUS. Tell them that.

Let God move.