I Am the Church...You Are the Church...We Are the Church Together...everybody sing...
You know - I struggle with the whole "I can go outside and worship God, thank you very much" attitude (yeah I know that wasn't what you were saying...but I'm on a roll here). While it is true - and I believe (though it's the post modern worship "buzz-phrase") that worship is a lifestlye, and thus we do it (or ought to) in every moment, there's still something important about worshipping in community.
I think you're dead on that one of the main reasons for church to exist is for us to be in community with each other - but if that was the only reason, well I'll take the Lion's club, thank you very much (not as much guilt associated with that) where I can hang out with people and be in community. We even do really great, mission type work there (all kinds of money comes in and goes out to help with sight and hearing - as well as some youth focus stuff). The "stuff they do" at Lion's club is very much like the "stuff they do" at church - but church is (and should be) deeper, richer and more meaningful because we don't just get together for a meal (though we do that a lot) and we don't just get presentations about stuff going on in the community (though we do that a lot, too), we gather around the communion table and draw into the presence of Christ - with each other. And all the things that we disagree on, and all the differences that we have, are a distant second to worshipping the very God of the Universe. And all the good things we do and all the great fellowship we have is a distant second to siimply being in the presence of God. And while I can be in God's presence alone, isn't it more powerful to be together with others?
What makes going to a concert different than listening to a CD (even a live CD)? What makes going to a theater to see a movie different from renting it and watching it alone? Or even renting it and watching it with two or three friends different from watching it alone? Together we are more than we are separately.
I confess I'm still working on this. The reality is that sometimes I get "better" community at the Lion's club meetings than I do at church - but I don't get the spiritual fulfillment that I get when I've worshipped with a dozen or a hundred other people - even if I don't know them - even if I don't like them...
So - church is all about community - but it's not ALL about community...or, something...
I think you're dead on that one of the main reasons for church to exist is for us to be in community with each other - but if that was the only reason, well I'll take the Lion's club, thank you very much (not as much guilt associated with that) where I can hang out with people and be in community. We even do really great, mission type work there (all kinds of money comes in and goes out to help with sight and hearing - as well as some youth focus stuff). The "stuff they do" at Lion's club is very much like the "stuff they do" at church - but church is (and should be) deeper, richer and more meaningful because we don't just get together for a meal (though we do that a lot) and we don't just get presentations about stuff going on in the community (though we do that a lot, too), we gather around the communion table and draw into the presence of Christ - with each other. And all the things that we disagree on, and all the differences that we have, are a distant second to worshipping the very God of the Universe. And all the good things we do and all the great fellowship we have is a distant second to siimply being in the presence of God. And while I can be in God's presence alone, isn't it more powerful to be together with others?
What makes going to a concert different than listening to a CD (even a live CD)? What makes going to a theater to see a movie different from renting it and watching it alone? Or even renting it and watching it with two or three friends different from watching it alone? Together we are more than we are separately.
I confess I'm still working on this. The reality is that sometimes I get "better" community at the Lion's club meetings than I do at church - but I don't get the spiritual fulfillment that I get when I've worshipped with a dozen or a hundred other people - even if I don't know them - even if I don't like them...
So - church is all about community - but it's not ALL about community...or, something...
posted by Pastor Bill at 1:10 PM
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