a new kind of church...pt. 5

A Reason To Be Encouraged

On Joel’s blog today, he re-asks the question that many of us have asked, several times over, on our own blogs. What does it mean to do/be church? Can you do/be church without attending a specific program in a specific building?

I think many of us are discouraged when it comes to church. Ben recently wrote…

“I want to look upon God with fresh eyes and recapture the wonder that I missed out on because church, the institution, got to me before Jesus did.”

That’s a very telling statement and I think a lot of people share it. Including me.

Many of us refer to “the New Testament church” when trying to describe the kind of church we want to be a part of. We use words like community to describe a church that’s made up of supportive relationships rather than methodical programming. We use words like journey to describe a church that’s experiencing life together rather than just learning theology. And we use words like “a life of worship” to describe the type of people we want to be as opposed to a day of worship which sounds more like a scheduled act than a life of surrender.

And that is exactly why we have reason to be encouraged.

Look around! Click on the links in my right hand column, and then click on the links in their right hand columns! You and I aren’t the only ones asking these questions. Lots of people are asking them. And as I read these blogs ,and the conversations that follow them, I’m beginning to understand that a shift is taking place in the church. As we look around for a different kind of church, and as we change our thoughts on what church is, we will inevitably become a different kind of church. And it’s happening in small growing pockets all over the world.

Don’t get me wrong. We have a looooong way to go. We still spend more time talking about a life of worship than we do actually living one out. And certainly those with the most power in the church aren’t looking to give up that power. But change it will. And change it is.

So be encouraged. Keep asking the questions. And, most importantly, commit to being a different kind of church rather than just wishing for one.