Nod and a Wink

Lets be honest here. Nowhere in the New Testament do we see anyone being invited to church. We see lots of invitations to come to Jesus to be introduced to him but not to “church”.

Now you might say wait a minute here what about 1 Corinthians 14

23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you

Does not this imply someone invited them to church to get saved? First of all you must read 1Corthians chapters 12-14 to get what Paul is going after here. Also there were no “services” in the early church. They gathered for mutual encouragement and edification, hence the instruction in 1 Co. 14 about how many people are to “share” and how gifts are to be used.

So should you never invite someone to church? Well I would say that depends. What do you think will happen? Do you think being around church people will cause Jesus to kinda rub off on them? When you look at statistics church people have just as high divorce rates, unplanned teen pregnancies, depression etc…as the average American. It appears rubbing off does not work.

But they will hear the gospel and be changed! I refer to the above statistics.

Well you might say if it is that bad why bother with church at all? Ah, now we are getting somewhere. For most Americans church is an event to which they attach certain expectations. Those expectations may be valid, unrealistic, wrong, etc but they attend the “event” in order to validate or realize their expectations.

Let me give you an example: Joe and Suzie attend church for their two kids. They expect church to teach them values and provide experiences that will unable them to become healthy well adjusted adults. Joe and Susie themselves hope to find like-minded people with whom they can they can have friendships and perhaps find God. They will be basically safe and comfortable.

Could not the same expectations be realized in say the Boy/Girl Scouts? What about in a civic group like the Shiners or United Way? What about the YM/YWCA?

So never invite anyone to church? Actually that is not exactly what I am saying. I think Church needs to give what I call a nod and a wink to these expectations. Because the prevailing culture comes to church looking for these things we should maintain a public face. We cannot meet these expectations! We can however offer public services the way Jesus did.

The crowds came to Jesus and he met their needs. He did not however always live up to their expectations. The parables of the soils in Mark 4 reveal this.

I suggest we arrange our public face to feed the sheep and present Jesus to the thirsty. But if all we have is that “service” then we have missed the mark. We invite people to join us as we follow Jesus. We introduce them to Him and how His story is reveal in ours. We purpose to share His life through our shared lives.

In essence we determine that to find us is to find Him.

Gathering in Jesus Name

I had a friend once who said "if we are not going to pray or study I am not going waste my time just standing around talking". This came after a group of us decided to just go hang out at my house. My friend's ressponse disappointed me but did not surprize me.

You see we have been conditioned to think of spiritual life in terms of religious task or functions. Prayer, bible study , worship, missions, etc... they are "spiritual" acts. Laughing, talking, goofing off, painting, work, i.e. LIFE is not "spiritiual".

I have come to believe that to gather in Jesus' name is anytime believers gather. When our common point of reference is our relationship to Christ, then we have gathered in His name. Work, play, it does not matter. Jesus said He is present.

Lets be honest have you not been in religious gatherings where Jesus was no where to be found? Yeah me too. Indeed what makes a gathering "spiritual"? Is it not the presence of God manifested among us.

Ever feel the pressure to do something "spiritual" when you are with a group of fellow Christians? Like maybe you are suppose to pray, or share needs, or ...evangelize. Do something, anything, just do!

One more story....In my college years I was a part of a wonderful singles ministry. We shared life in Christ together and we were learning to live "irreligiously". One New Years Eve we all met at a friends house to welcome in the new year. Some of our group invited some of their friends from another church.

As the magic hour approached some of us decided to engage in the spiritual act of setting off firecrackers. As word spread more people left the house to come outside and join in our "worship" expereince.

One of the invited guest came out angry. They thought this was a Christian gathering. We were told we needed to get back in the house and pray in the new year. This was serious and these were serious times. We were told by said person that we were not honoring God acting so foolish.

One by one we filed in and "prayed in " the new year. I think we even had to join hands.

But you know something deeply spiritual did happen to me that night. I came to realize sometimes we leave Jesus standing in the driveway holding firecrackers while we are inside with the matches.

Got any matches?

Two Names, One Blog

You may have noticed my blog has two names? By typing in http://followingthewildgoose.blogspot.com/ you get the blog The View From Here. The reason is simple by following the Holy Spirit I can only tell you the view from where I am now, hence the view from here. As the Lord leads the view changes.

So as I follow Him I will report on the view from where I am now in my journey with Christ. Hopefully it is an ever growing view of the grace and power of Christ.

Also I welcome comments so please leave them. Your comments my help others and aid the view from where they are at now.

You Cannot Create Community

You cannot create community. Now for those who know me this may sound like a strange statement. Being apart of a living community of faith is so much a part of the story God has been telling with my life. And yet I see all attempts to create it as futile and largely unsuccessful.

I have come to believe that community is a by-product of sharing and journeying with others. As we share and invest in each other community is the result. Shared beliefs, values, purposes, cultures, combine to create community. Individualism, selfishness, independence, and more prevent the formation of community.

Now at this point you might say well I will create community by sharing life with others. Actually if you set out as your goal to create community you have created an agenda and all relationships become utilitarian in the pursuit of that goal. Any person, event, practice, etc…that keeps you from your goal of community will be discarded.

So what can we do? I can purpose to follow Jesus wherever that takes me. I can love those around me with Him the only goal being to follow and love. As Wayne Jacobson puts it “live loved and love”. As corny as that may sound it is the best course. And for those you have walked this way you know it is not easy.

Living this way the Spirit creates community, a community of Christ where His love dwells not in temples made by man but by God. Living stones living out the life of Christ for all to see and taste.

You Cannot Create Community

You cannot create community. Now for those who know me this may sound like a strange statement. Being apart of a living community of faith is so much a part of the story God has been telling with my life. And yet I see all attempts to create it as futile and largely unsuccessful.

I have come to believe that community is a by-product of sharing, journeying with others. As we share and invest in each other community is the result. Shared beliefs, values, purposes, cultures, combine to create community. Individualism, selfishness, independence, and more prevent the formation of community.

Now at this point you might say well I will create community by sharing life with others. Actually if you set out as your goal to create community you have created an agenda and all relationships become utilitarian in the pursuit of that goal. Any person, event, practice, etc…that keeps you from your goal of community will be discarded.

So what can we do? I can purpose to follow Jesus wherever that takes me. I can love those around with Him with the only goal being to follow and love. As Wayne Jacobson puts it “live loved and love”. As corny as that may sound it is the best course. And for those you have walked this way you know it is not easy.

Living this way the Spirit creates community, a community of Christ where His love dwells not in temples made by man but by God. Living stones living out the life of Christ for all to see and taste.

Show Me Your Glory

This past weekend I conducted a wedding ceremony for some dear friends. It was a wonderful time and Jesus showed up as we had invited Him. As always He brought surprises.

Today my thoughts turned to weddings and honeymoons. I found myself on holy ground, which is particularly surprising considering it occurred while I mowed the grass!

Here is what came to mind: in some ways God is like the bride on the wedding night. She will unveil herself to her husband. The beauty of this is lost on our culture where women unveil to anyone all the time.

Nevertheless, like in Middle Eastern cultures where a woman covers herself with veils only to be revealed to her spouse, so God reveals his glory to us. Just as a woman is saying to her husband “ I am yours. Do you find me beautiful? God comes and reveals His glory little by little saying, “ Here I am. Will you accept my love?”

Granted I may be stretching a bit but I see that there is a beauty to God himself that satisfies my deepest longing like no other. And I find that as I grow in grace I begin to see that beauty, terrible and awesome, but satisfying like no other. Moses cry “show me your glory” makes so much more sense to me now.

Unanswered Questions

A friend commented to me “remember when you said you had learned to live with unanswered questions? I’m not there yet! How do you get there?” At the time I was not sure how to answer. It had taken me awhile and was a growing realization.

Today while mowing the grass it occurred to me that there were some underlying assumptions that God used to bring me to this “contentment”.

If God is indeed like who He reveals Himself to be then it stands to reason that there are things about Him that are inexplicable. Could the creature completely comprehend the mind that created? Blue, eagles, the smell of honeysuckles, sound of the snow falling in the forest…I enjoy these but did not conceive them. Galaxies, sunflowers, sex…get my point. There is a wonder to God that defies explanation. The only true response is worship.

Another assumption is that in Christ God told me what I most needed to know. Are You good, do You love me, do the people of this world matter to You? Christ Jesus is Himself the answer to my unanswered questions. “I don’t know” can always be prefaced with “I do know He loves me more real and deeply than I can imagine. If what I see now does not look like love then I go to the cross and the empty tomb.”

I would not diminish those struggling with unanswered questions; indeed I still wrestle with God sometimes to understand Him. However I now view that as an element of a healthy friendship.