Quick question – what if you were given a completely clean slate when it came to “doing church”? What if you didn’t have to follow or abide by any traditions or rules or guidelines? What if you were freed to recreate and shape the time/space where believers come together and seek to strengthen one another? What would “new wine skins” look like (Mark 2:21-22)
And I’m not asking the question because I hate all things church and want to start a riot. I’m asking because that is exactly the situation the first believers found themselves in. Jesus lived, taught, exemplified, died, and was resurrected. He then leaves a bunch of highly confused and rather unqualified folks to take his place and to continue his ministry. No rules. No traditions. No real guidlines. No order of worship. No denominational idiosyncracies. Just a devotion to and love for Jesus.
And what they decide to do is recorded for us in Acts 2 & Acts 4. I highly encourage you to read those chapters. What elements of those early church services stand out to you? Would you have done the same things? Which ones do we desperately need to recommit ourselves to?
So, if you had a clean slate, how would you “do church”?
(If you are intrigued by this idea, I highly suggest you check out the following links – http://www.brianmashburn.net/?p=295; & http://www.brianmashburn.net/?p=298)
It is an interesting question to think of what I would do if I had a clean slate for church. My simple answer would be to do what the Bible says I should. However, we then get into what the Church of Christ has already tried to do. Acts 2 & 4 are interesting chapters to me because it describes a real community. It isn’t just a Sunday morning thing, it is an all the time thing. It is amazing to me so see the accounts of the apostles meeting together and praising God even though they are being persecuted and probably really confused as to what they were doing. But it is amazing to hear about how no one had a need in their community. That is what our community needs to be. A place where needs are fulfilled. And not just needs like “I need food,” even though many of us do, but a place where the need for love, and acceptance, and grace, and mercy, and shelter are taken care of. But I think the church is heading in that direction, we just need to be more bold about it. It’s a difficult question to answer though. Much meditation and prayer is needed.
The first word that came to my mind was fellowship. And I know that’s a word the church throws around alot, but in its simplest form, fellowship means to gather with other people who are trying to follow Christ and encouraging one another. What’s beautiful about fellowship is that it takes all different forms, sizes, themes, and pre-planning. And, I have found it is the easiest thing to invite someone you have been talking with about Christ to because almost always fellowship is naturally laid back and unintimidating.
With a clean slate, I would put much more emphasis on life-sharing fellowship and less emphasis on specific, structured services.
The talks at Collide these past two weeks have been amazingly powerful and convicting. The church so often fails. I think of a dear friend, raised in the church, who is genuinely interested in the message of Jesus but “put off” by how “fake,” how hypocritical, Christians seem. I think of the churches that neglect the unique divinity of Jesus and the authority of the Word in favor of a feel-good everything’s-okay gospel. Donne’s sonnet which cries out, “Show me, dear Christ, thy spouse so bright and clear” says it well, and is a good reminder that Christians throughout all ages have struggled with these problems (even in the early church… see Annanias and Saphira, the circumcision group excluding Gentiles, people saying “I follow Paul!” “I follow Apollos!”).
I think the discussion being initiated has to get down quickly to specific, concrete actions. We know pretty well what we are supposed to do; love God, love each other, love the world. The question is, how exactly can Christian organizations and institutions best promote that love? I really don’t know. But I’ll throw out a couple of random thoughts. I feel that small groups, groups that can meet often and consistently and really get to know each other well and hold each other accountable, are tremendously valuable. Large worship services are great, but the deepest fellowship and most useful help seems (to me) to come from the smaller Bible studies and prayer groups. Prayer, also, is key. I personally have difficulty maintaining a discipline of prayer, and it would be so helpful to be given some kind of reminder or aid to focus my mind. Maybe a schedule or something? “Everybody pray for the work of the church on Monday, the sick, poor, and needy on Tuesday, justice and peace among the nations on Wednesday…” Or maybe that would too easily slide into legalism.
I would also like to add here a small caution about change, especially in the forms of worship. As we seek worship that is engaging, genuine, etc., it’s easy to forget that consistency and familiarity are also good things in and of themselves. You can’t really pray to a song when you are struggling to figure out the tune and keep up with the words; when you’re thinking, “What are they doing with the service now?” you’re not entirely focused on praising God. So even when changes are necessary, they should be implemented with caution.
well, I think scripture gives us the best response possible through Acts 2 and 4. It’s a lot to think about, what the early church concept would look like today and, more importantly, are we bold enough to actually carry that out. It’s challenging. I’m not sure what my response would be but I would like to think that it’s possible.
What I would do is restore the sense of community that is so key to church. It seems to me that in many churches, there is no community, preventing the church from fulfilling a critical function.
Such a great question! A few things that I would love to see happen in the church are a refocusing on prayer, focus on the cross of Jesus, His resurrection and healing power, acknowledging the tangible work of the Holy Spirit in us and in the world around us, living knowing that our possessions and money are truly God’s. Obviously these are just a few things, but they are things I have become passionate about because of life experiences and stories that I have heard from other Christians.
With earnest prayer comes true revival (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts, the Azusa street revival, check out the book “Red Moon Rising”). When we see outpourings of New Wine throughout history, we get a glimpse of the kingdom and should take note of what they were doing right at that time.
Focusing on the cross and the Holy spirit reminds us that there is nothing that I can do alone, it is all the work of Christ in me. Our ministry has to be one of coming alongside people, to earnestly struggle along side of them, enjoy the good and the bad parts of life with them, be involved in the mess of life. While we do that, the Holy Spirit will transform us and those around us into the likeness of Christ. I guess I’m saying we need some true discipleship.
As Nick mentioned above, it is really cool to read about how the early Christians had everything in common, and no one had any need. Wow! But this is a BIG stretch for us independent, self-sufficient, materialistic, living in SoCal Christians. Most of us are terrible at sharing, I know I am. But to truly give up ALL of our possessions, to have everything in common? That would be a drastic change! But there are movements in the church that are headed that way. Check out this website, relational tithe: http://www.relationaltithe.com/
I also wanted to encourage Kathryn (and everybody) that having a schedule to help you focus your prayers daily can be super helpful! Check out this weekly prayer schedule for some ideas (make it your own!): http://www.sbcpray.net/planner.asp
Peace
I happened to be reading a book on the life of Anselm, completely at random, and by coincidence (except there are no coincidences) I happened upon something which I felt to be extremely relevant to my personal life, especially as I come from a tradition very much unlike the Church of Christ and have been tempted to complain about it and prefer the old to the new. But as I listened tonight I realized that it might also be helpful in the discussion of what the church ought to be and how it should be reformed. The context of the passage is that an abbot asked Anselm to give some advice to young monks. He responded by talking about one of the major temptations of brand-new monks. This is excerpted from that letter.
“For when [Satan] cannot crush a monk by making him hate the life he has professed, he tries to undermind him by scruples about the circumstances in which he finds himself… suggest[ing] that he was foolish or imprudent to undertake it under such superiors, or among such companions, or in such a place. And so, being persuaded into ingratitude for the benefits which God has begun towards him, a just jeudgement decrees that he shall neither go on to better things, nor yet retain what he has recieved, nor be useful in his present way of life. For while his mind is perpetually occupied with thoughts of removal, or– if he cannot remove– with dissatisfied reflections on the choice he has made, he gives up all attempt to reach the goal of perfection. … Wherefore, if anybody undertakes a monastic profession, it is good that he should concentrate all his attention on becoming rooted with the roots of love in whatever monastary he has made his profession, unless it is so bad that he is unwillingly forced to do evil there. And let him not pass judgement on the habits of others or the customs of the place, however useless they may seem, if they are not contrary to God’s commands. Let him put aside every thought of migrating, and rejoice to find himself in a place where he intends to spend his whole life, not unwillingly but by his own free will; and thus quietly let him give himself up entirely to the diligent performance of the exercises of a holy life. … peace of mind is not to be obtained by any monk living in a monastary without constancy and forbearance– and forbearance is indissolubly bound up with patience– or without a studious and devout observance of all the customs of the monastery, even if their purpose is not clear, provided they are not contrary to God’s commands.”
Obviously not all of this is directly relevant. We are not bound by oath to a particular church or method of doing church, as the monks were bound to a particular monastic order. But it is analogically relevant. For the ordinary laity, forbearance is a virtue to cultivate. As long as the law of God is not transgressed, it does no harm to follow seemingly empty or useless forms, and it may do some good, or prevent some evil, for us to aquiesce. It would be best to be in a perfect church; it is good to strive to make the church better in every way we can; but it is also good to bear with the imperfections with grace and respect, so long as they are not actually contrary to God.
This is only saying at much greater length what has already been said. “A time is coming when you will worship God neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… [but] the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” What does this mean, except that external forms are now irrelevant? God can be equally praised in St. Peter’s Basilica or in the auditorium of an elementary school, in a megachurch or a private home, lead by a priest or a college student or no one at all, in a glorious feast or a solemn sacrament, with trumpets and bells or with voices or with silence, with vestments or hair shirts, with costly offerings or a widow’s mites. It is the state of the heart that matters.
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