Last night I finished a book called “Jim and Casper go to church.” If you haven’t read it, I highly, highly recommend it.
In short, a “professional Christian”/pastor and an atheist travel around the country to visit Christian churches and basically write a honest report of what they see happening in the American church.
One of the questions that our atheist friend Casper asks is, “Is this what Jesus wants his followers to be doing?” Basically, his question is directed at the very core of Christianity. Why are we (Christians) here? What is it Jesus is calling us to?
I have been really struggling with this question as of late. Especially since over the past two weeks I’ve been reading through Deuteronomy 5-6 and Matthew 9-10 alongside this book. My feeling is, and I know I don’t have many answers, that we have missed the point. I’m not even sure Jesus, when he said, “Upon this rock I will build my church,” he was envisioning what we understand church to be today. Honestly think about the idea. No matter how we change our language, word our mission statements and rearrange our orders of worship, we are still doing church.
And we can say all day long, “It’s not the building, it’s the people.” But, what does that mean? What I’m trying to say is, when we throw around statements like that, we aren’t helping anyone understand what the church is or what it’s supposed to be. It just becomes this place that we go to, instead of a group of people who join good works to make a difference in the world for the sake of Christ. Church has to be more than just people. It has to be people who are committed to making a real, tangible difference in the world, not just catering to each other…
Oh, I’d better get off my soap box before God strikes me down… I’ll see if I can come up with something a little more clear later on.
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I completely agree, but I think we are sometimes lost in finding the “right” way to do things instead of just doing them. I understand the fear of things turning out less than desired, but God will handle the way things turn out if we just open ourselves up to Him to do his Will without second guessing and trying to do it the “right” way.
I really like the point about people coming together to do good works in Christ’s name. One should go to “church” or small group or whatever to learn how to listen for God’s voice, but to also serve one another in Christ’s name. While I understand the “catered to” statement, I can’t help but wonder if we, as “church” goers should come to Worship with the expectation of being “spoken to” by spoken word or music. It always amazes me how every song, and every sermon seems to be written to me as a personalized letter from God. It doesn’t seem to matter if I thought I needed inspiration or uplifting, it is always there. I think sometimes the notion of being “catered to” is confused with being “fed”, and many times the members of a “church” body are told not to come to Worship with the expectation of “getting something out of it”, but to come and serve and learn how to spread the good news to others. It’s important to be fed as a mature believer as well in order to spread the good news.
I think the tangible difference is made when people come together and form such an amazing relationship that others want to be a part of it. Instead of the high-school game of cliques, they are welcomed into the relationship as if they had been a part of it all along. This overpowering feeling of love and acceptance is what radiates through them allowing them to show a different side in all that they do. Christ’s love is better described to others in action, and although we WILL falter, it is our calling to live our lives as close to His as possible including his AMAZING ability to LOVE.