I've had this aversion toward church for the last couple of years. I believe these thoughts and distaste started in 2003. It was about that time that I realized that even the people I respected most (hard position to attain in my critical mind) were wrong sometimes... I started thinking outside of the box my surroundings and my personality had coordinated. It's amazing how our individual natures and unique nurturing can create such different "worldviews"... and what's even more interesting is how many similarities there end up being. (but that's a different post).
Church... how did it become what it is today? Have you ever thought through the history of it? From Tabernacle to Temple to Cities to Church... How different each is. How is it that terms like "Christian", "Bible", "Gospel", "Church" have become such ambiguous terms? Did they not originally have a deliberate meaning? How did discipleship become a 5-step program? How did discipleship get replaced with jobs? How did ministering to the widows and orphans become a social duty? How did church become something we do 2/3 times a week on the side of our busy lives? How did church become something we do? What the hell are we so busy doing? Unimportant things, that's what. Bleh. I hate thinking about all this... It use to immobilize me spiritually. At this point, I just try to be productive despite these hindrances. That queer saying "bloom where you are planted"... all that bull. Yea... I try. Just think about where I am planted- I'm a youth pastor's wife. I'm planted amidst the soil of the one thing I hate being identified with the most- with the one goal I care about the most.
In conversation with a good friend/mentor yesterday, we concluded that "church" should be synonymous with "discipleship"... I should be able to use both words in the same sentence and have the sentence mean the exact same thing. Thoughts?
1 comment:
Excellent point. I struggle with the same thing-sometimes I cringe when I am identified as part of the 'church', knowing what many people see and believe it to be.
It IS supposed to be about discipleship-we as Christians are supposed to be showing love to the world, and acting and loving each other as the body of Christ-not just in the church building, but AS the church.
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