Jun 16, 2010
Going to Church, or Being the Church?
Posted by Mitch Sliwa in Mission - Theology | Comments (0)
Have you ever said the phrases? Where do you go to church? Let's go to church. After we leave church, we will go to lunch. It is important to be in fellowship by going to church.
Many if not all of us have used the word Church in this manner. From a quick glance, nothing seems wrong with these phrases, and to a degree there isn't. The is a subtlety in these phrases that stem from a deeper issue and a shallow understanding of what th Church is. Oftentimes we have an oversimplified view of the church, as a place we go to instead of a people that we are. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines church as: a building for public and especially Christian worship. This definition has some truth to it, and many of us refer to the building in which we meet as "church". We often refer to church as an event we attend on Sundays with other Christians.
Have you ever had a Bible study with a group of Christians and had someone call that "going to church"? Usually not, because people consider church a place we meet at in a specific location. We also treat going to church (attending an event on Sunday) as fulfilling the command to maintain fellowship.
Church is NOT an event we go to on Sunday. Church is not a building, but Biblically the Church is a "called out group of believers". The Church is a people who have been called by God and set apart, not a place we visit on Sundays. The reason this is important is because this view has lead people to believe some very bizarre things. This view of Church tends to place certain people in the position of "professional ministers" who do all of the ministry for us. I have seen people in the Church furious that the Pastor did not visit their relative while they were sick in the hospital. They wanted the Pastor to go visit him because it was his "job" to do so. It is true, that Pastors have a special calling to care for the flock in ways that people who aren't Pastors don't. However, this does not negate the fact that every person in the Church is a minister of the Gospel. This leads to the importance of being in community. Pastors no longer need to visit every sick person, see every baby born and do all of the "professional ministry needs" because every person in community within the Church can help pastor people. Most pastoring should be done within specific community groups. If someone needs prayer, they should go to their community. If a single mom is in financial need, she should go to her community group with her needs. This removes a gigantic burden from the back of the Pastors and it frees them up to spend their time in the Word and in Prayer as the Bible states they should be. Our Pastor Todd should spend most of his time studying the Bible, reading books, praying and discipling emerging leaders who will also disciple new leaders. Pastors should spend most of their time discipling a group of men to help them pastor and disciple the rest of the Body. The job of pastoring and discipling the body should not be left up to one or a few elders simply because the numbers of sheep to shepherds is not favorable.
The Church is not a business offering a commodity to consumers. The Pastor is not a "vendor" offering a service to people who come into the business. Sometimes people come to Church expecting things to be a certain way, and if it is not they simply move on to another "store" to look for their commodity. Instead of asking how they can serve and help the body, they seek to be served like when they visit a store or a restaurant. If our mashed potatoes are cold at a restaurant it is socially acceptable to send it back for some hot potatoes. After all, we are consumers seeking to be served and we pay good money for it. This is not so in the church. We should not be part of a local church because of all of the things it offers to us as consumers, but instead seek to be part of a church body that we can be the most useful at in service. The Christian life is not one of consumption but one of service. Jesus told us in Mark 10 that he came not to be served but to serve others. If this is true of the Son of God, it should be true for his people as well.
The best way to find out how to be in service is to get involved in a community group. At Sacred Journey we have missional communities that meet throughout the week all over the state. If you aren't involved in one, <a href="/contact" >contact us</a> to find out how. |
