My Church
Aug 6th, 2007 by gibsondirect
For the past three to four years, I have enjoyed reading, learning and asking questions about the current emerging church movement. Much of what I hear I like. Of course, there is much I’m unsure about, too. However, the learning experience has been rewarding.
I think most of us search to know more about God, to know Him better, to experience that unexplainable love in times of need. Often, new ways of holding church can help us accomplish this mission. Therefore, I welcome change.
It’s been over ten years ago when Gary Klingsporn and I set about designing a new set of books called, The Library of Distinctive Sermons. Obviously, the series was designed for preachers. In fact, we wanted these books to be valuable to pastors of all denominations—not an easy task.
To ensure we could pull off such a goal, we constructed a simple chart of doctrines and other issues. Surprisingly, we discovered most denominations agreed with the same core doctrines. Of course, there were those exceptions, but certainly not as many as I had expected to see.
So, what is all the fuss about?
As we dissected our chart further, we quickly saw the difference. The real rub came in the form of social issues. While the core doctrines seemed fairly consistent from one denomination to the next, the real dividing line came with social issues. I found this very revealing. Now, many years later, discussions arise on whether the American church is untenable. We explore new ways of doing church so that now it seems we’re divided not only by social issues, but how we worship as well.
Yet, as we struggle through change in how we conduct church, I cling to the simplicity of the gospel. Otherwise, I lose hope. We can dance around the flagpole of change, we can live a new adventure in worship—all of that is fine with me. In many ways, I like it. But if in the mix if I become a raw, doubting cynic in the body of Christ, then I fear I’ve missed the point of it all.
All of this has made me wonder about my own church experience. How has organized church influenced my own life? Of the many churches I’ve attended, they all have contributed to my spiritual well-being to some extent, some better than others. Some have contributed to my frustration as well. So, I think I’ll explore my church experience in greater detail and see where it goes. Stay tuned…
I’ll be interested to see where it goes. There are two polar extremes in American Christianity with many versions in between. How pleasing is this to God? How often do we truly listen to our brothers and sisters in Christ? How often do we refuse to listen and just dismiss those who don’t think, act, believe, and worship just like us? So I’ll be interested.
Americans (and everyone else for that matter) need to change their paradigm of what church is about. Then and only then will we start to become one (boy, that sounded pretty heavy-handed).
I have been trying to teach my kids one concept–one that I didn’t learn until later in life. It is that church isn’t about what I get out of it, but what I offer to it. If they (or I) show up at Sunday school expecting the teacher to entertain and “wow” them (or me) then they are missing the point.
If I choose to not go to church because there is nothing in it for me then I am missing the point. Perhaps God wants me at church so that I can be there for someone else. Perhaps he has something to tell me on any given Sunday that I am not expecting, or even looking for. It’s about worshipping God in community. It’s about loving others and investing in their lives.
In the immortal words (sort of) of JFK, we should ask not what our church can do for us, but what we can do for our church.
It’s funny you mention the social issues and the worship style. When Amy and I were looking for a new church home in Kerrville, that’s what it came down to for us. We could go to a church that was socially more in line with our (essentially) political beliefs, or a church that was stylistically more in line with our worship preferences.
Believe it or not, we chose style. We worried that the high church style might give our kids the impression that God was boring. And we figured they wouldn’t understand the social issues for a long time.
I’ll admit, sometimes I wonder if we made the right choice. But you know, any community you choose is going to have problems.