Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Church: Noun or Verb?

I hear many people today discuss whether or not church is being done right or not. They like to consider how it can be done better. I don't think church is even something you do. It's not a verb. It's a noun. Being a part of the church is like being a person, place, or thing. The grand canyon won't be any better at being the grand canyon tomorrow than it was today, it doesn't have the facility to improve its grand canyoness. Water today is water tomorrow, it can't make itself more efficient at being water. I won't be any better at existing as a male human being tomorrow than I was today. I can't practice having a Y chromosome, or a penis, or a beard, or really hairy legs. These are things that just are.

I am a christian therefore I am a member of the Body of Christ therefore I am the church. Could I be a more christlike person? Absolutely!! But if I'm totally unChrist like one day, it doesn't mean that I was less of a member of the Body of Christ that day, that never changes.

Kingdom living....ahhhh, now there is something that can be discussed, and is discussed quite frequently by Christ himself.

That's it for now.
Disclaim, Disclaim, Disclaim....Blah Blah Blah

Disclaimers and disavowers are really getting under my skin. They get under my skin and then fester. They fester into this fiberglass substance that itches, hurts, and emits an agitating noise the same pitch a poorly aimed fingernail would make grating against a rock. Not only are they getting under my skin, but they are becoming increasingly distasteful to me. Mostly I hear disclaimers and disavows when people broach subjects that are sensative or touchy. They make me want to slam my head in my cardoor.

I see these mostly when people begin talking about church. At this point I can almost forecast a disclaimer.

*Jesus Freak Joe gets a thought in his head that maybe Lucado and Piper haven't written about yet. He thinks about it some more and realizes it wasn't in Blue Like Jazz either. He then realizes that what he's about to say could be a BOLD statement. He starts to wonder, "just how far out on a limb have I gone here?" He finally looks up to face his jury. A circle of white collar bible babies who have no greater idea than he does. (It's this facial expression that I've come to recognize.) Tight mouth, wringing or fidgeting hands, quick steady glances of eye contact around the room, and then starts to raise either one or both of his hands... then the words, "Ok, I'm not sure about this, and i'm not claiming to be an expert on church, and I don't want to offend anyone, and if I'm way off let me know, but (sigh) maybe we should make announcements at the beginning of service instead of the end?" He cleverly poses his statement as a question. The gravity of the words set in with furrowed brows and grunts fo deep thought.

Then Jesus Freak Jerry speaks up, "You know, I'm no Paul or anything, but I THINK Joe MAY be on to something. I think we should consider it, pray about it, offer it up to the Lord, and see what He thinks about it."

Then the circle grunts approval.

Weak Sauce Man!!!

Why can't we just say stuff? "I think ______ about _______. What do you guys think?"

I think our problems stem from a number of areas, such as:
-everyone is scared to death of being wrong, especially about the Lord. Heaven forbid any flawed human being say anything that was the slightest bit off about a perfect omni-multiple of things God.
-many people today don't know what it is to listen to the voice of the Lord, and ACT on it, or BELIEVE in it. Some people don't hear it and think it's all up to their mental understanding, which ends up being alot of stress. Some folks hear the Lord and doubt constantly whether or not they're hearing the Lord, but they don't want to test it dreading that they've in fact never heard the voice of the Lord or that they may have been wrong about something or mess something up, they're basically being spiritual pussies.
-some of us are way too scared to contradict an established creed, doctrine, or some published christian goo-roo with a life advice book. Why? Most of us don't know anything about these book breeding rabbits. Why believe anything they say? So what if nameless doctrine "A" has been around for a hundred years, well maybe it's been wrong for a hundred years.
-We're all afraid of offending someone. Our first ministry is the ministry of reconciliation, but we never practice it because we try our darndest to allow no one to ever be offended with anything we could ever do or say. "So what if the fence I'm sitting on becomes a permanent part of my body, at least I didn't step on anyone's toes. Thank God I never stood up for anything, I might have been wrong, boy not only is being wrong unforgivable but it's embarrassing too. Man o man, that would have been just the worst thing ever."
-some of us are way to afraid of tarnishing our white washed spiritual resumes
-we don't realize that we don't have to be offended by differing beliefs or view points, it is a choice. Even if we are offended we've got a back up: FORGIVENESS!!

Alright, enough ranting. Basically, I'm exhausted by disclaimers, I think they should be banished.

The End.