Community or Club?

I don't want anyone to think I am at all anti-establishment or anything, but I do like to 'review' what it is we are doing and make sure that the 'means' are meeting the needs of the 'ends.' To blindly continue to follow is not a good practice for anyone at any time.

So, what is church? What are our churches doing, and why? What is the purpose of our meeting times? What are we hoping to accomplish...and what are we actually accomplishing...and does any of this have anything to do directly or indirectly with the forwarding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and telling the world? Sometimes I'm not so sure what the intentions, or intentionality, of the average Christian church is? Are we just in a club, or are we gathering as a group of people, changed by the message of the gospel, in order to further our discipleship and further extend the good news to all? Sometimes, I admit that I have felt as though I was in a club. A group of people that loved getting together for 'that nostalgic feeling they were so used to having throughout their life.' Interpretation: "I've always gone to church, so that's what I do...not to change my life, but to continue what I have always 'known' in my life...to be comfortable."

I'm very glad that so many people grew up in families that thought it was important to attend church once in a while, but just attending doesn't make anyone a Christian. But I'm not so sure people really understand that. Just where does faith and action collide, anyway? Is there any way to figure that out or evaluate it? Tough questions, and before we go any further, we must remain biblical by reminding that we, humans, cannot judge the heart [although we are called to judge...just only after we "get the plank out of our own eye first!" This, of course, gives us a 'new heart' after seeing our own unworthiness and confessing our sins, to show love and compassion to the person who is also leading a life that needs changing...but this is not what we most often see happening, even in 'Christian' lives]. We can see 'clues' to the heart through the actions of a person, but we cannot determine the motive or the "heart-thought" behind the action. That is known by God alone.

At the same time, Scripture clearly states that we 'will know them by their works,' and the intersection of faith and life happens 24/7, whether we admit to it or not. We are either actively working to point in God's direction or in other directions. It becomes even more 'muddied' when people like atheist Richard Dawkins claim "cultural Christian" status, yet adhere to nothing of the Christian belief system. So, what does make a Christian? Could self-proclaimed atheist Richard Dawkins be 'Christian' because he enjoys the usual "Christian" holiday of Christmas and all its festivities? Or is there something more to being a Christian than just liking or 'doing' the 'right things' [as if participation in a Christmas party accounts for anything upstairs].

And yet, as obscene as that sounds, it is very possible that many come to Sunday worship because 'that's what they've always done' rather than to be changed and uplifted by the grace-filled Word of God. Those people are "club" people, not changed Christians. God's Word says that some will claim to 'know Him,' and those who claim could be pastors as well as parishioners, but in the end, they will not all have a relationship with Jesus, despite however many church services they went to or Christmas parties they attended over the years.

I pray that your athentic worship of God permeats through all of your day, and that the time you are spending, with whatever time you have left, is spent growing and showing your life and love for the Savior who came 2,000 years ago. The Savior who loved enough to suffer and die for our sin. The Savior who wants nothing more than to remember your sins no more. The Savior who is preparing a place for us...a place where there is no more tears, no more pain, no more death and dying, for the old order of things will be passed away...this is the Savior's promise for those who put their trust in Him. This is His dream, and His Kingdom, and, somehow, because of His love to be born a baby and die on a cross, our reality. Thank you, Lord Jesus, and come quickly!