Chimenea Church of Christ
I slept through church again the other day. A decidedly odd thing to do considering I'm pastor at the before-mentioned church. That not being an entirely new activity for me, this time was somehow different. Usually I [metaphorically] sleep through church, bidding time for my moment in lights and than thankfully for the close of service. But this time, sleeping through church provided a most spectacular event- a meeting with God.
Granted, the strange spiritual quest of sorts I've been on lately has offered all kinds of fantastic encounters. It's been a period of little prayer (and little guilt! Not sure which is the more odd), lots of questions, lots of writing, lots of poetry, lots of talking with people, voracious reading, lots of thinking. It's best summed up by saying I'm absolutely sick of going to church! That, coming from a pastor ready to be ordained in 2 months! What gives. Speaking of ordination, can anybody come up with a good reason why I ought NOT to do that? People keep telling me how exciting it is, and whoa is me, did I miss that lesson in Sunday school, I seem to have lost my passion for credentials! That being said, it's scheduled in stone for Sunday afternoon October 17. You are all terribly welcome to join in the fun!!
Back to my being sick of going to church. Yes, that statement is true. I woke up Sunday morning grieving that I had to get up and "go" somewhere. Certainly if Jesus intended to build his church on some specific coordinates he did not intend them to be in Hesston Kansas, but rather somewhere north of the Galilee sea! Oh, just let me BE the church! How refreshing that would be. How easy if I didn't have to go because I already was. With you, and you, and yea, you over there. I'm tired of the dog and pony show. And completely shocked how polluted our understanding of the term 'church' is. Does the word even carry any helpful meaning anymore? Buildings, services, programs, times of the week- as soon as you equate church with any of them you've totally lost all connection with Jesus intention. An intention that shouts, "We are the body!!" Friendship, sharing, connected, growing, committed, working together, able to respond to Jesus- aren't these worthy of our excitement more than appropriate time slots and music styles? These can happen on my back porch or at Mokas just as quickly as it can at the building formerly known as 'church.'
Any good Anabaptist worth their salt would quickly retort, "You can't do Christianity by yourself. You need the church!" I agree, I just don't know that we've got 'church' figured out. I wonder if the Institutional church as it now exists is incapable of doing the very thing it set out to do. Which reminds me, I was telling you a story about meeting God in church. It happened not through the carefully chosen music, scripture, or theme. It happened when I left the service to go grab something I forgot. There in the hall looking as lost as me, was one of my youth, who promptly gave me a quick hug, and asked, "How's it going." When I gave the expected response -"fine"- she asked me again, and qualified it with a "I want to know." In a complete and startling moment of clarity, I saw what church is. Better yet, I experienced it because I was it-together with a 13 year old girl. I told her a little of what was going on with me, and she promised to pray for me. Later that week I got an email from her, a follow up (a sledgehammer more like it!) that was so kind and meaningful it might as well have been a new car! You can't plan that. You can't even sleep through that.
Who knows, maybe I really am a heretic, or just a bad pastor. Just seems that church shouldn't have to be something we prepare for, it should be something we live. Complete with hospitality, generosity, a vision of something bigger than us, and an extra large portion of God getting in our lives and having his way. That's all I want. That's all I hear others want. And thankfully, I don't have to go anywhere to get it!
God is totally cooler than I ever dreamed him to be!
Granted, the strange spiritual quest of sorts I've been on lately has offered all kinds of fantastic encounters. It's been a period of little prayer (and little guilt! Not sure which is the more odd), lots of questions, lots of writing, lots of poetry, lots of talking with people, voracious reading, lots of thinking. It's best summed up by saying I'm absolutely sick of going to church! That, coming from a pastor ready to be ordained in 2 months! What gives. Speaking of ordination, can anybody come up with a good reason why I ought NOT to do that? People keep telling me how exciting it is, and whoa is me, did I miss that lesson in Sunday school, I seem to have lost my passion for credentials! That being said, it's scheduled in stone for Sunday afternoon October 17. You are all terribly welcome to join in the fun!!
Back to my being sick of going to church. Yes, that statement is true. I woke up Sunday morning grieving that I had to get up and "go" somewhere. Certainly if Jesus intended to build his church on some specific coordinates he did not intend them to be in Hesston Kansas, but rather somewhere north of the Galilee sea! Oh, just let me BE the church! How refreshing that would be. How easy if I didn't have to go because I already was. With you, and you, and yea, you over there. I'm tired of the dog and pony show. And completely shocked how polluted our understanding of the term 'church' is. Does the word even carry any helpful meaning anymore? Buildings, services, programs, times of the week- as soon as you equate church with any of them you've totally lost all connection with Jesus intention. An intention that shouts, "We are the body!!" Friendship, sharing, connected, growing, committed, working together, able to respond to Jesus- aren't these worthy of our excitement more than appropriate time slots and music styles? These can happen on my back porch or at Mokas just as quickly as it can at the building formerly known as 'church.'
Any good Anabaptist worth their salt would quickly retort, "You can't do Christianity by yourself. You need the church!" I agree, I just don't know that we've got 'church' figured out. I wonder if the Institutional church as it now exists is incapable of doing the very thing it set out to do. Which reminds me, I was telling you a story about meeting God in church. It happened not through the carefully chosen music, scripture, or theme. It happened when I left the service to go grab something I forgot. There in the hall looking as lost as me, was one of my youth, who promptly gave me a quick hug, and asked, "How's it going." When I gave the expected response -"fine"- she asked me again, and qualified it with a "I want to know." In a complete and startling moment of clarity, I saw what church is. Better yet, I experienced it because I was it-together with a 13 year old girl. I told her a little of what was going on with me, and she promised to pray for me. Later that week I got an email from her, a follow up (a sledgehammer more like it!) that was so kind and meaningful it might as well have been a new car! You can't plan that. You can't even sleep through that.
Who knows, maybe I really am a heretic, or just a bad pastor. Just seems that church shouldn't have to be something we prepare for, it should be something we live. Complete with hospitality, generosity, a vision of something bigger than us, and an extra large portion of God getting in our lives and having his way. That's all I want. That's all I hear others want. And thankfully, I don't have to go anywhere to get it!
God is totally cooler than I ever dreamed him to be!
posted by Heretic @ 2:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home