my plan was to share a couple of my own experiences: one that weirded me out and one that inspired me to explore my own giftings more deeply. however, i never got there. apparently, the folks responding to the simple prompt went a very different direction with it... and did so together.
the common denominator in this little thread, and two others like it that i began in different places, was the fear of non-acceptance due to lack of grace. this is troubling, considering the majority of the folks responding were regular 'church folks.'
how did the church get this reputation, even among its own people? Jesus certainly didn’t have this in mind when he described the future of his movement in john 14.16-27.
fair enough... but you wanna see something really scary?
the church that emerged from that amazing day when the Holy Spirit touched people in the way that Jesus had promised was hardly a religious institution prompting fear and anxiety among those who came looking for truth and hope. sure, the day of Pentecost was absolute mayhem- but it was God’s mayhem, accomplishing major life-change and freedom for thousands the very first day and birthing the new covenant church in the process, entrusting its leadership to uneducated sellouts for Christ. it was a grassroots movement of regular people just trying to sort it out as they went along, but doing so within the safety of intentional faith and fellowship communities that were as committed to the meeting of others' needs as to the progress of their own personal spiritual pilgrimages.
the really scary thing is that somehow this beautiful movement eventually turned into a religion. the encouraging thing is that it's not too late to change it back.
3 comments:
What's interesting hear is that most people are afraid of being alienated or not fitting in.
I am curious as to the experiences you were going to share. I think that alot of what was mentioned in ACTS 2, isn't seen these days as openly just for the very above reasons above, for fear of not fitting in...but my friend that is the point we don't fit in and have to accept that loveling and without fear...we are all exactly what God made us to be and we should embrace it openly without fear of persecution...because in the end it's not about us...and yet it is.
I am not sure we can change it back...the institution is now what matters and not the people. Everything revolves around a building (church) and ceremony for that building (service). Sure there is an invitation to God to come there, but is He really going there? He created this planet, we made a building...when creation meets we see in the other what is not in us.
I think it's too late, people have accepted God as a cultural item and whether and they associate this strongly with a 'building' or 'meeting place'. It's all kind of crazy in some ways when I think about God...but this is the system we have inherited; that has been on this earth from some 1700 years.
"Sure there is an invitation to God to come there, but is He really going there? He created this planet, we made a building...when creation meets we see in the other what is not in us." (SVS)
is God really going there? what a great question.
i agree that having a building can often feel like an encumbrance. i mean, a fairly significant portion of the money given within the church i lead goes to paying the bills for the building. i hate that. i hate it so much that i am faced with at least two options that MUST be considered (because if one's not willing to consider options then one should probably not be willing to bellyache about the state of things.)...
1) sell the building and give the money away
2) keep the building, but give it away for free as often as possible, providing shelter to those who are in need of it for gatherings of their own.
it's not a perfect plan, but at least it ensures that people's 'offerings' don't go to keeping a fairly big and empty office space from which the pastors respond to emails. they are paying for a space to gather so that others who do not have such a space and/or cannot afford to secure one need not fail to gather.
since embracing the value to others of giving away our gathering space, i am not as bummed about having a church building that still costs us money. it is a resource that we can share.
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