Being the Church!
September 22, 2009 by Pastor Joe Olachea
Filed under Blog, Discipleship, Featured, Pastor's Letters
In my current reading I came across something that so relates to the American church today and I wanted to share it with you:
“To see the church as a building or as the activities that go on in the building is to return to the sacred/secular split that has done so much damage to modern life. If church is only the meeting that occurs at a particular building at a particular time of the week, then the rest of the week is not church. And if church is a spiritual activity, then the rest of the week is not spiritual. But, …this is simply mistaken. Our formation as disciples of Christ is more influenced by the rest of the week than by the hour or two a week that we meet as a congregation. We must come to see that people cannot be engaged in kingdom life and work if they have reduced salvation, gospel, church, and ministry to only those programs or activities that are part of the church. This is destructive not only to our people but also to our understanding of what a church is.:
- Mike Erre in Death by Church (p. 241)
This is so well put! The church is neither the building nor the activities that take place there. The church is us 24/7! I believe that one of the things that must take place if we are to once again influence our culture for the Kingdom of the King of All Things is to stop DOING church and start BEING church! Some have labeled this “program paralysis” in that we follow a program that works at another “church” going from fad to fad, or we are so busy at the building that we fail to be the church in the world because we just don’t have time to be. Both of these scenarios are damaging to the cause of inviting others into what God is doing.
This has also led us to view the church as an institution rather than a movement. Institutions generally exist to perpetuate themselves. Movements exist to engage others. This is discipleship! God is moving in this world. The question is: Are we moving with Him and inviting others to join us?
The need is great, but so is the opportunity. I challenge you to BE the church this week.