Staged “church” …
Is very scripted, professional and alluring.
But …
Is it New Testament?
Category: Simple Church
Every church has some who are thinkers …
Some who are feelers …
Some who are doers …
And some who are relaters.
Only as they learn to esteem each other’s gifts above their own, can their own individual gifts fully blossom between them …
For the mutual edification of all.
“Unity” based on anything less, however, leads to strife …
Which helps explain why so many churches are unhealthy instead.
Take away “the Senior Pastor,” his stage, his pews, his “worship” team and his building …
And what’s left?
Perhaps, God willing …
The beginning of “church” as actually taught and shown in the New Testament.
The New Testament doesn’t say “church” is where we encounter or are ushered into God’s presence through “worship” or any other means.
There’s not a single verse in the entire New Testament to that effect.
Nope, not, nadda …
Just ain’t there.
Rather, the New Testament says that Christians already have God’s presence in us and when we gather together we’re to minister one to another …
Which includes congregationally singing God’s praises to encourage each other.
Big difference.
Let’s start being the church as God instructs in His Word …
Rather than feeding our own carnality and calling it “church.”
I understand why “church” is often reduced to sitting in impersonal rows to watch a staged, scripted “service” each week by the “senior pastor” and his “worship” team.
Although it has nothing to do with church as the New Testament commands it …
It does eliminate the hard work of actually being the church.
In contrast, the New Testament says we’re to be a functional community which, among other things, gathers together to unassumingly minister one to another …
By strengthening and encouraging each other through the diverse gifts and abilities God distributes among us.
Mono-church?
When a church or movement organizes around the vision, natural abilities, or spiritual gifts of a particular leader …
It will grow rapidly at first but then stagnate as it eventually bumps up against his limits.
This is not how it should be.
“Church” must never become a platform for one particular person, ministry or mission.
True church in Scripture is the wonderful, dynamic, fluid, multi-gifted and fully participatory Body of Christ …
Where we all minister one to another and to a waiting world, each according to the unique grace and differing gifts God distributes among us.
There is no mono-church in the New Testament!
Lord, raise up true elders – “grown ups” among us …
Who guard your flock by teaching sound doctrine and confronting those who define:
Doubt as faith;
Obedience as optional;
Grace as merit;
Tolerance as love;
Truth as relative;
Perception as reality;
Morality as feelings;
Scripture as subjective;
Diverse gifts as distractions;
Unity as conformity;
Worship as an event; or
Church as a platform.
May we, Lord, understand the times and proclaim with Paul:
“Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive …” Eph. 4:14
Churches focus on meetings, hoping community will happen.
It seldom works.
What, instead, if churches were communities where gatherings happen?
Maybe it’s time to stop doing it backwards.
Mega-Church Celebrities and Television Preachers:
Multimillion dollar mansions, private jets, net worths exceeding tens of millions of dollars …
All from “ministry.”
Paul of Tarsus:
“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
Get it?
What if “churches” stopped being a “service” where the few try to usher the many into God’s “presence?”
(A concept nowhere found in the New Testament.)
What if, instead, they became gatherings where all can express God’s diverse presence already in each of us, as the Holy Spirit directs, for the mutual edification of one another?
(Just like it says in the New Testament.)
Wouldn’t that be amazing?
These days, church “leaders” seem more interested in an elevated stage and delivering prepared messages …
Than living among us and making disciples as a prepared person.
The problem is …
Many folks seem to want it that way.
Jesus established the church as His local participatory assembly …
To represent and advance His Kingdom here on Earth.
Instead, we’ve turned it into an entertainment business with weekly staged performances.
What’s trendy is seldom eternal …
And what’s eternal is seldom trendy.
When “church” and “worship” are about stirring up carnal feelings, God’s not there.
And that thing you feel?
It’s not God, because it’s more about you …
Than Him.
It may be intense, but trust me …
It ain’t Him.
Why is it that those who consistently fail at establishing any real vocation, fail at being part of a functional local church, and fail overall at life in general …
Seem most inclined these days to promote themselves as “apostles,” apostolic “workers” or some such nonsense …
Where they only succeed at reproducing their failures in others?
When your ministry becomes your source of validation …
It truly is “your” ministry.
What we mean by “worship” today seems to have become a distraction …
From what God means by “worship” in the New Testament.
In the original language of the New Testament, the Greek words translated “worship” mean a lifestyle of Godly sacrificial obedience and reverence …
Not music or musical performances designed to press our feel-good buttons.
In fact, there’s not a single use of those Greek words in the New Testament, or in the context of the common vernacular of the day when the New Testament was written, which even hint at such a thing.
Nope, not, nada …
Just ain’t there.
I’m all for singing God’s praises together, but let’s leave behind the self-absorbed counterfeit “worship” that’s so common today …
And begin to actually worship God by living holy lives of obedience and reverence, as He defines it.
This Sunday when you go to church, look around and make an effort to see those who have no family or are going through hard times …
Then ask if they’d like to share Thanksgiving with you and your family at your home later this month.
If space allows, also invite others in your neighborhood and community who are isolated, struggling or maybe even homeless.
This is love.
This is being the church.
You will form friendships that will last a lifetime.
Marianne and I do this each Thanksgiving – as well as throughout the year – and it has enriched our lives beyond measure.
The key to effective ministry …
Is becoming less and less indispensable.
A pastor introduced himself to me at a local ministerial association meeting and asked about “my” church.
As I considered how best to answer, it struck me for the first time that we didn’t have a name. I mean, the idea had just never even occured to us.
When I told him that, he seemed intrigued.
So I went on to shared how we were a simple, participatory gathering of believers who were the church, rather than folks who went to a church, and we never even considered the need for a “name.”
He thought about that and asked a few questions.
I responded by explaining that we don’t follow the post-New Testament model of a sole-proprietor “pastor” who preaches and runs the “service” every Sunday.
Rather, my role is to be an elder who – with others – unassumingly insures a safe environment where everyone can gather and feel free to minister one to another, each according to their own gifts as prompted by the Holy Spirit …
You know, just like the New Testament says.
He quietly considered what I said, then responded that he guessed that was OK – after all, “God once spoke through a jackass.”
Seriously, he said that.
Sigh …
I’ll take relational simple church over staged scripted church any day of the week.
Is church supposed to be a staged event …
Or a functional community that ministers to one another?
Without hospitality …
There is no ekklesia.
