Just had a great time with God this morning, and the following just rolled out in a stream of consciousness moment[1], one of those moments where idea after idea flows so readily that you know it isn’t you. God was really revealing to me a deeper layer into what he’s doing with this community, and why it’s important that we keep going.
I don’t quite remember when or where I overheard this, but this morning started with me remembering the idea of church being like a car. Certainly a car needs things like wheels, tires, windshields and an engine, but just putting together any engine, any tire, any assortment of parts together do not make a good, or even working car. Similarly, assigning leadership, creating structures, hiring pastors, appointing elders, having ministries/services/bible studies/sermons just because the bible mentions churches have them does not make a good, or even working church.
The bigger picture is that there is a design, a blueprint, that dictates what sorts of parts are needed. Not all blueprints are the same, and parts between cars are not usually interchangeable[2], as not all cars were meant to do the same things the same way. Not all parts of the body of Christ will function the same. Discernment is needed to figure out what methods of leadership, what types of ministries, what sorts of gatherings and events will make sense for this body; to find parts that work together as God intended for our context.
Of course it’s easier to buy into a complete car and go sit in it and enjoy it’s features, perhaps even let someone else decide where you’re going[3]. Certainly there’s a whole lot more comfort, a whole lot more security in a car that is already put together and seemingly complete[4]. But you get a whole lot closer to the design, and the designer, by going through the process of seeing the blueprint, gathering the right parts, and spending blood, sweat and tears putting it together. You might make mistakes, find out you read the blueprint wrong and put in the wrong part, and end up having to take it out, “wasting” a lot of time and effort, but you learn so much about a car that way, what the designer wanted that car, that part to do.
In the same way, it is easier to go to a church that has it all together with structures and ministries and activities ready for you to participate. There’s a lot of comfort and security knowing that hopefully someone else has already made all the mistakes and you get to enjoy the fruit of their labour. Yet some of us will[5] definitely get a calling and find tremendous joy in watching God reveal His will for a community; obeying, trying things, making mistakes and learning for ourselves more all the time what being disciples for Jesus everyday really means for us.
That’s where I think we’re at. We discern, we wait, we toil, yet sometimes things don’t work at all it seems. People will be uncomfortable with how half-built this car is, how long and sometimes grueling this journey is and has been, and how much they miss the things they used to enjoy, things they feel they need, the parts of the blueprint we haven’t been led to yet, and people will leave.
People will tell us that we’re going no where, that the car isn’t even close to being put together; that some other car is so much more complete. And it’s true, our church is not complete so to speak. But in the end I believe what gets built, in each of us as well as the community as a whole, will make sense for us as we grow into adults that are strong, God-reliant disciples of Jesus, transitioning to a lifestyle of more than just having Godly events. We will be the Godly event.
So that’s where we’re at when it comes to our church being a work in progress, but why is it so important to go in the direction we’re heading now? If what we’re doing is so uncomfortable to some, why not try to be, or just go to a more “normal” church? Let’s start with the situation all of us wish to avoid, being a Sunday Christian.
I remember talking to some, at the various churches I’ve been to. Some pew sitters used to be passionate too. They played keys for their CCF, led bible studies in their res’, started prayer meetings. They too at one period in their life also gave themselves to campus ministry. So why as a career/family person are they Sunday Christians now? Why has the transition into the working/family life been such a stumbling block to so many?
When we are students, we are so free with our time[6] and so close in proximity that we could follow God and grow simply by attending many activities: service, small groups, fellowships, bible studies, prayer meetings, outreach programs, etc. However, as we get older, and have jobs, get married, and have families, we can not engage zealous christian living by sheer attendance any longer. Not that we’re not as dedicated as before, but there comes other important Godly things to dedicate ourselves to, like our spouse, our children, our mission field and relationships at work.
So as we move on from school, if we do not move into our daily lives things like outreach, prayer, and receiving from the Word, and continue to rely on corporate events to fulfill those purposes in our lives, at some point we will be hard pressed and exhausted from going to those events due to these other new Godly commitments. Hence these Sunday Christians, not that they don’t desire to live for God, just that they are still continuing a system of Christian living that, as they transition into working/family life, is now exhausting and unsustainable. They have not moved, or have been taught to go towards a view and culture of church that facilitates their living for God in their new life context.
We need to move from a place in our lives where we attend many Godly events, to a place where we are the Godly event. Unintentionally, for me anyways. we’ve been leading our community to move in that direction already, to decentralize and de-programize a lot of what we think is important about biblical living, and bring them into our individual lives. So for example, instead of having weekly evangelism events, we started sharing and praying regularly about the people we’re reaching in each of our lives, and trying to keep each other accountable to investing in those lives.
This direction occurred simply because most of us aren’t students anymore, and are learning how to live for God in our new life contexts, perhaps knowing in the back of our minds that we are no better than those who set the traditions before us and that we too will end up simply in a pew on Sundays if we do not change.
Maybe then some find it hard to acknowledge our church as church because it does feel like that we’re not doing much as a corporate entity, that they can attend so much more while at school, that there ought to be so much more stuff at a church. I believe though, especially for those of us who won’t be career ministers and won’t be paid to continue living the zealous student christian life, there’s a lot of benefit in discovering and practicing how to live hard for God when you have a job, are married, with children. That’s where we’ve been heading, where we’re headed right now. And it brings me a lot of peace knowing that I am intentionally discovering and equipping my walk with God as I transition into working life.
And this brings us to why Godly discernment is critical, and the important question of “what does God want me to do right here, right now?” At any given point in time there are many many Godly ministries we could be doing/attending. While at school, we might be able to skirt around this idea of discernment and being guided by the Holy Spirit because we have the time and energy to be part of many things at once, and by sheer volume hit upon what God wanted us to do.
As most of us are finding out though, it’s harder to do volume when we have a job. Even harder when we’re married and have kids. So this idea of discernment, picking out God’s will for me in the present becomes more and more important if we are to live for Him in an energized and joyful way. That’s the conviction I have for the bible study starting in Jan, that at the very basics of discernment is to be able to read the Word of God, and have the confidence to say I’ve been spoken to by God from it. And from that conviction go on to obedience and experience God’s will for us.
Equipping people with that will require part empowerment, that yes, you have the Holy Spirit as your guide and you are qualified to hear from God; part encouragement, that God does not condemn our mistakes in trying to hear Him, and there’s so much more intimacy in hearing Him for yourself; and part challenge, that yes, God wishes us to live in obedience and to obey God we need to hear God’s Word, written and revealed.
[1]Anyone remember where that’s from?
[2]Learned this one the hard way working on my Acura
[3]Some have more than one car and enjoy different features/drivers for different needs and wants.
[4]I say seemingly because Westside looked complete to many too
[5]Some of us already have gotten this calling
[6]I know students will beg to differ but just wait till you work full time :P
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