For months now I have been asking myself what it means to be the Church.  For some reason the idea of a scheduled meeting time and structure recognition does not resonate.  I recognize it is dangerous and unconventional to think otherwise in some circles. 

Apostle Paul penned in 1 Corinthians 10.31 that “whether you eat or drank or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  To give glory is to worship.  He tells us to live holistically as believers.  Everything we do is meant to bring Jesus glory, praise and adoration.  Worship draws people toward Christ.  God invites everyone everywhere into this way of life, and I believe it is the best possible way to live.

Sometimes I forget to worship.  I’m still learning. Often my failure occurs outside the “church building” and fostered by a false premise that church is something I can go to as in a specific event, location or organized group.  Jesus looked at church quite differently.  He didn’t talk about it as a place to go, but as a way of living in relationship to Him and to others in His family.

Asking me where I go to church is like asking me where I go to McCool. How do I answer that? I am a McCool, and where I go a McCool is. ‘Church’ is that kind of word. It doesn’t identify a location or an institution. It describes a people and how they relate to each other. If we lose sight of that, our understanding of the church will be distorted, and we’ll miss out on much of its joy.

Maybe the Church is too big and powerful for a building?  Maybe meeting in a building is comparable to a movie, on-stage show, or concert that you feel alive in and leave only to look forward to the next big thing (I just lost some readers). The real problem is when people find it is far easier to sit through a finely-tuned (or not so finely-tuned) service and go home without ever having to open up their life or care about another person’s journey.  What is much harder to practice is sharing the journey of knowing Jesus with others that consists of open, honest sharing, genuine concern about each other’s spiritual well being and encouragement for people to follow Jesus however he leads them.  This can happen among established congregations, as it can also happen beyond them.

What I find myself asking is the need for fancy buildings? We have found ourselves meeting as a house church and we make no apologies for the way we meet.  Each faith community most discover for themselves the way of Christ for their culture. We believe we are the Body of Christ when we come together in homes, sing a song, share a lesson, find revelation, and experience gifts of the Holy Spirit.  All done for the strengthening of the church (1 Corinthians 14.26).

Does this mean I despise established churches with buildings? NO, I value these places of worship.  Let me make clear that a house church (network) works together with the more traditional community churches and mega-churches to show the transforming power of Christ to our neighborhoods.  But keep in mind, however, that your gathering is not the church. It is just one of the many expressions of it in the place where you live.

It’s no secret that the term “house church” frequently conjures up negative images for many. However, the history of Christianity has never been limited to tall buildings with steeples.  The New Testament believers understand the church as something you are, not where you go. The house church is neither new nor heretical. I hope that we simplify church and programs so that we are freed to actually live the kind of 24/7 everyday-missional life we are meant to live. It permits us to think of church as more than Sunday morning and move us away from being consumers.

Here is our hope. Picture a group of people who simply live out the gospel in their marketplace community and began to draw a group of people from their local coffee shop, music venues, and markets to discuss what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God. As time passes this group would begin to grow and become much more. It won’t be where they go to church. It will be their life, their friends, and the people they’re on mission with.

That would be some kind of church!

Much of the thoughts above come from Wayne Jacobsen’s article “Why I Don’t Go To Church.”  I would encourage anyone and everyone to read his thoughts.  Also, Organic Church by Neil Cole.

Maybe I’m not clear, “I’m a pastor, I lead churches, people worship and I help!” This is the thought that feels my mind as kind, thoughtful people hand me their church invitation.  I don’t understand why but I routinely get invited to visit people’s churches.  These same people often talk with me about God and church.  They are curious how I start a church, where do the people come from, and why do I work bi-vocationally if I’m a pastor.  But they still feel the need to invite me to come attend their church.  I find this very strange because they feel they are evangelist.  

They either consider my faith unequal, alluring, or it’s easier to invite me to their church – I’m a believer. I think this type of evangelism is easier.  Evangelism for much of the church has not been among unbelievers but focused on receivers – people who already accepted our worldview (~ Erwin McManus).

Honestly, the gospel at least in America has been made into a message that would only win Christians to Christ.   Our religious diversity has tended to exist within the confines of a Christian worldview.  People who respond to our mail market piece, visit our churches on Sunday, and so often heed our preaching are convert sinners who already believe in the God of the Bible.  Perhaps our most extreme opposition comes from “Christian” atheists who reject the existence of God.

Our most basic presentations of the good news of Jesus have been built and filled on the assumed authority of the Scriptures. We know that when we tell the unchurched that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life, the word “God” evokes the same image that we have. When asking an unbeliever about the destination of their soul after death, we know it is unnecessary to build an argument for the existence of heaven. 

But we have been wrong.

It’s easier to convince someone that already agrees with you.  It’s daunting to convert a stranger.  There are two dangerous temptations each of us face when confronted by a stranger (someone who thinks and acts in a way that is foreign to our religious practices). The first is a desire to transform that stranger into our own image, trying to obscure and replace their cultural and religious practices with our own. The second is to exclude and reject the stranger entirely, viewing them as a threat which must be guarded against. In one the stranger is rendered into a clone while in the other they are made into an enemy.

Jesus instructions were to go and as you go tell others, train everyone you meet in this Jesus way of living (Matt 28.19). So how do you “evangelize” unbelievers – make disciples? I believe we endeavor to demonstrate how one can faithfully ask, seek, and knock (Matt 7.6-9; Luke 11.8-11) by making this a necessary part of our lives.  Augustine once wrote, ‘God is He who gives God’, so we must realize that we cannot give God but rather, by demonstrating openness and humility, creating a space where God can give God.  In this way an evangelist can be understood as one who is open to God at all times and encourages others in this way of being – helping to produce a clearing where God is free to give God.

We are more than our parts.  I’m more than a husband, I’m a father; more a lover of people; I’m a lover of God.  As much as you can describe me as spiritual, I’m a follower of the way of Jesus.  It’s hard to squarely fit anyone into a box.

I remember when I got engaged.  I called close friends and family and told them I had met the woman of my dreams.  Among the nice exchanges they would often ask me to tell them about Summer.  It was easy to list off the endless attributes that made her so desirable, but I often felt the picture conveyed somehow reduced her, because she was so much more then her features, qualities, and reputation.

We have a close friend who introduced a Mexican holiday to us a few years ago called, “The Day of The Dead.” Yeah, I was a little apprehensive about the holiday too, until we attended. It was a night more about life then death.  It was about remembering those who made tremendous influence on our life.  Often you find pictures, clothing, art that reminded people of their loved one.  Even then the pictures couldn’t communicate the depth of these people.  The framed pictures were icons for more.  Ask anyone about their item (picture, art, etc) and you see their countenance change.  You eyes light up, voices change, and stories begin to explain who the person in the picture was – much more then the sum of the parts.

God spoke through a prophet named Isaiah about people taking up idols because they needed something visual to connect with God.  Throughout scripture we find God illusive to images, because He is more than a statue, wood cravings, and symbols.  Recently, I have wrestled with a question from God in Isaiah 46.5 which reads, “…Can you picture me without reducing me?” God is love and love is beyond images, words, icons.  Like the love I have for my wife, she is more than I can communicate.  Like a picture of a loved one, it’s not the picture, but what the picture represents. 

One of lives biggest problems is God doesn’t show up in person and reveal himself.  Even when He did, it was as human and required faith, not evidence.  Many people demand, “God, just show me your real and I’ll believe.”  Throughout the gospel Jesus testified that He has and we still didn’t believe – and won’t.  Why? Because God cared enough to not take away the wonder of whom He is with magic tricks and superhero stunts.  He continues to put that responsibility in our hands.  We are to reflect His image, live out his kingdom of love, and be evangelist of hope. 

Can you picture God without reducing Him?