Being Church

Like the Geico commercial, if I told you that the church is not a building, you would probably respond, “Everybody knows that.” Not only is it inaccurate to speak of “going to church”, I believe it is not possible to have a church. What we’re called to do is join with others in continually seeking to be a church.

Most pastors I know spend 15-20 hours a week preparing their sermon(s), and another 4-5 hours working with musicians and others in preparing to document, order, and lead weekly worship services; yet worship is becoming, less and less, the initial/primary touchpoint for connection to church and faith. I’m not arguing that worship isn’t important, or that it needs to be done away with; just that, in our current cultural context – where people daily interact with technology more than with other people, where busyness is an acceptable mark of success and life-goal, and where Sunday has more socio-cultural options than Baskin-Robbins offers – the notion of Sabbath rest and worship is no longer normative.

I believe that the church’s missional/worship balance is way out of whack. It is past time for congregations to disabuse themselves of the institutional notion that the primary work of church happens on Sunday, takes place inside the walls of the building, and is mostly the task of paid professionals. If church is going to be(come) a vibrant beacon of the gospel that Jesus, as God in the flesh, revealed, we must first understand the schedule correctly.

We are not on an NFL schedule, where all week is practice for Sunday's performance. Monday through Saturday are not filled with occasional half-speed drills of 15-minute morning devotionals and mealtime prayers designed to protect the stars for Sunday’s big event, undertaken at an exclusive practice facility reserved for the home team. Sunday’s worship is actually more a combination of rest and practice, and every hour of every day is the real deal of world-engagement/encounter. Church committees are not the quarterbacks, who learn how to call and execute a series of well-orchestrated plays and programs of Sunday School, VBS, and special events that will magically transform us all into obedient, compliant Christians. In fact, it isn't a game, or even a competition at all.

It is, instead, a dance to which the whole neighborhood needs to be invited – a block party – and the music, which we need to be open to hear, is Love. The steps we must learn to take are not rote. They morph, regularly, as the Spirit leads us into the depth of each present moment. When we all learn to feel these moves in our bones, we will trust that what we feel is enough. It won't always be right, but it's less about correctness and certitude than relationships and community. The dance, which is only learned step by step as we go along, together, is Grace.

Do you feel the music?

 

Photo by Jerry Gorman

© 2015 Todd Jenkins