Two experiences this weekend has brought back a familiar question. What is church? Now for those of you who may read this and not consider yourselves religious or spiritual, read anyway. I’d like your thoughts.
Saturday night we met at friends’ home along with 10 other adults and a few kids. We had dinner. We watched some football (well, the guys did). The ladies talked about kids, education, grandkids, serving others, and even sharing when each of us started our periods. When the football game was over we all got together and started discussing God, the universe and man. A dvd was started about a man traveling around the US asking people on the street what they thought about God, her followers and the church. If some of us weren’t so old we could have stayed longer and continued the discussion among ourselves. We left loving each other more and being aware of carrying each other in our hearts and minds.
This morning Brad and I attended a traditional church service. There was some prayer, some singing, a reading of scripture and a “message” of which the majority was about the business of the denomination. Now, let me say, we have attended this church a few weeks. The people are very gracious and friendly and there is nothing “offensive” about the liturgy.
While sitting in the service I kept thinking about our Saturday night experience and the question kept reverberating in my brain, “Which one of these is really church?” Now I know this is probably very subjective but isn’t anything dealing with spirituality and how it is worked out in your own life? I find myself asking questions like:
Which of these experiences caused my love for friends to grow?
Which of these experiences inspired me to be more involved in justice (or the lack thereof)?
Which of these experiences caused my spirituality to be challenged and fanned to greater intensity?
Are these valid questions to ask about church? How do we define church? In which atmosphere would I feel more compelled to ask people to join me? Is church supposed to be a welcoming of God into our everyday lives? Is church to be a place that when you leave you are a more aware person; more aware of God and of others and the condition of the world?
Of course, for me this also presents a decision. How do I find myself in this “place” on a regular basis?
Enough with the questions, now comes the answering.
6 comments:
For me I need both. Sometimes one more than the other depending on which "season" of my life I find myself in. There can be much life in the formal corporate gathering in which teaching is brought from a more "universal" pulpit or vision. It tends to show me that there is much more to the story than my own little perspective... I am merely a piece of the puzzle coming together to show the bigger picture.
The smaller, more intimate gatherings is where I can genuinely connect. I can get to know people and let them know me. Who are we, really?...I realize that we are not so different in our struggles and victories. I learn to care. I understand that most of us just want to be accepted, loved and somehow changed to be more like the one we follow. That's risky business, especially in a large gathering.
To everything there is a time and a purpose... Life together in a larger corporate setting often helps me learn about the kingdom. Life together in an intimate setting helps me to live it out with practical application in the story I find myself in.
Anonymous, Thanks for your comments but I won't accept these anymore unless you identify yourself; only seems right. Don't be afraid to let yourself be identified with your comments.
I am convinced that "church" is both/and...
Since the first "communion service" was around the dinner table, I have to say that often that is where we see God actively at work in others, ourselves and our relationships. But saying that can also give me a convenient cop-out, allowing me to avoid involvement in a larger communion.
I struggle with how we 'should' do the 'business' of a local faith community, without interfering with that regular call to go deeper... both spiritually and relationally. That regular challenge to think of "the other" before myself, to think of the eternal spirit, to consider social justice (instead of my own pocket book), to be authentic, ... is so critical to continuing to grow as a "church" or faith community.
Perhaps it requires extraordinary, intentional work on the part of the church members and staff to protect that gathering time. To protect it from the "business" that must be done just to be responsible stewards, by finding another time to do that.
I was also struck by your phrase "...there is nothing offensive about the liturgy."
I believe that somewhere near you there is a faith community who's "gathering rituals" will do more for you than fail to be offensive.
Perhaps you need to keep looking for a faith community. A gathering where your heart resonates with what you hear and experience.
Perhaps you need to seek out a place that speaks to your highest hopes for "church."
Deanne,
I think you misunderstood my line about the liturgy not being "offensive". What I was saying was that there was nothing in the liturgy I didn't find acceptable. Some people become offended by the way liturgy is done in different churches. I guess one way of saying what I am looking for is that everything done points us to the Christ; the table, the readings, the prayer. I believe we are in a time of post denominationalism and yet so many churches continue to empasize what their denomination believes and one sad part of that is how many of those denominations repeatedly discuss their national heritage. I actually sat in a Lutheran church one Sunday where they said, "afterall, that's who we are, blond hair and blue eyes". That is offensive. That is exclusive. That is wrong.
Thanks for taking time to comment on the blog. Trust me, I long for and will continue to look for a community of faith where I feel at home.
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