Defining Church

I was listening to a favorite preacher of mine the other day (hoo-ray for podcasts!) and he was talking about needing to define what a church is before you start one.

Sounds logical.

I decided to try a little bit, so here goes:
"Church" in the Greek is actually best defined as "Assembly." Much like the word "synagogue," it can refer to both the members (primary) and the place of assembly (secondary). Since the Greeks had all kinds of assemblies (political, religious, parties, etc.), the reason for assembling was very important. The reason Christians assemble is to worship Jesus, our great God and Savior.

So, step one, assembly should involve worship.

The New Testament gives some hints at other things that should happen when Christians assemble: prayers, use of spiritual gifts, public reading of scripture, encouragement, giving money, meeting needs, confession of sin, prophecy/teaching, baptism, Eucharist/Agape meal, and several other things. But of course, the focus of all these things is Jesus.

We (scholars and I) are pretty certain that early Christians used and adapted the synagogue sabbath service as a guide for their assemblies, which involved prayers, singing, Scripture reading, and teaching.

I could blog about this all night, but the conviction I come down to is this:

Church--
A group of people who assemble together at regular intervals for the purpose of worshiping Jesus Christ as our God and the only hope of eternal life. In these times, Christians are to obey the highest commands of Jesus to love God and to love each other by means of using their spiritual gifts to build each other up as growing students of Jesus to the glory and praise of God.

Then, I should maybe add something about sacraments and church discipline (accountability) and something about leadership. But I think I've already blogged enough about those things and I'm sure people are already sick of my fantastic armchair quarterback abilities.

Send me some comments if you dare....I might just reply to them....but I probably won't.

Why I Like House Church (50th POST!)

For most of you reading this, you know I really don't have a particular fondness for traditional styles of church. I have been gathering with a home-based church group for several months now and I have just fallen in love with it. I just wanted to take a little time to explain why I love it so much.

1) Eating together every week. While this may sound trivial to some, my primary love language (from Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages) is Quality Time. I rarely got to spend any quality time with people in traditional/contemporary churches. With house church, I get my fix every week, at least.

2) Input in teaching. I'll just say this: in every other single Sunday School class I have been a part of, almost nobody took my inputs/suggestions seriously, except when I was teaching (which was rarely). I'm not sure why. Yet with an open Bible study, everyone has a chance to ask questions, give input, relate to current struggles, apply to life, and so on. My input is valuable, and I get the chance to value input from others.

3) Prayer. This is the crown jewel of the house church movement as far as I'm concerned. In our group, at the end of the Bible time, we all pray for one another every week. When someone prays for you in your presence, it is the most amazing feeling in the world. When a Sunday School teacher prays for you--it feels cold and forced. When a friend prays for you who doesn't have to, it is the most affirming thing ever. I rarely got this at church (for one thing I didn't feel comfortable enough to share requests) and I get it every week at house church. Plus, I think it's in the Bible somewhere.

4) Sleeping in on Sunday. Since our group just has one long meeting per week (and not three short ones) we just have it on Sunday nights, and Sunday mornings are free---and they are AWESOME!! I really don't see why churches try to have Sunday School, AND Service, AND Discipleship Classes, AND Second Service all in one day. Who can keep track of all that? No wonder the best Christians are educated beyond their obedience---they don't have time to obey because they're spending so much time in inneffective Bible studies.
Bottom line: I feel physically refreshed from resting, and spiritually refreshed from the evening's activities with zero compromises. Win-win-win.

I know there are "traditional" churches out there that incorporate these elements into their routine and they are much better off because of it.

For me, going to church is like eating vegetables. It's something that really isn't fun, but you do it anyone because either someone makes you, or think it's good for you. House church is like finding out that there is ice cream and soda that keeps you healthier than vegetables. Only God could do something like that. It's just too bad He doesn't do that with real ice cream and soda.

Humble "Innovation"

Because of anti-traditional diatribes of late, I have been questioned by several people vis-a-vis what happens when my anti-traditions become tradition.

First, I want to make clear that none of my ideas are innovations. In fact, most of them even predate Jesus (e.g., Socratic method style teaching).

Second, I have no love whatsoever for chasing fads, or the next new thing. Part of the problem with institutionalized churches (e.g. Willow Creek, Saddleback) that hold conference after conference promoting new, bigger, better, faster, whatever, is that they eat up huge chunks of budget on surface stuff. I am dealing with a foundational understanding of what the church is.

Third, I have to realize that not everyone will agree with me now or ever. The problem with more traditional churches is that they don't care and will not listen to younger people. When I was in high school, the pastor of my church was retirement-age and I loved him (still do!). Why? Because he treated me as a valued person and took time to talk with me and get to know me and pray for me. That's all I'm really looking for: acceptance, the ability to be myself without being judged or relegated to being a second-class Christian.

In summary, I'm not looking for something new, per se, I'm looking for something real, authentic, meaningful, and worthwhile.

I find it funny that even the "liberal" churches are having the same problems with their young people. It's not about mere rebellion, or taste, or style, or preference. It's about humbling yourself, being open to dialogue with your "enemies," and dropping the need to always be right.

I can now guarantee you that I have been wrong on some of my blogs. It's OK with me.

It takes a big man to admit his mistakes, and I am that big man. I've just got to go out there, stand up for what I believe in, and do the best I can do. I'm not the pope, I'm not Jesus, but I see a broken system in American church discipleship. I can't just stand by and ignore it. Something's got to change. If I'm suggesting the wrong things, let's talk about it and see where we end up.

I am sure of a few things: inform people why you do what you do, don't blow smoke and make up crap that sounds good but isn't really in the Bible, and treat people like they are valuable until they actually become valuable.

"Present Future"

I just finished reading The Present Future by Reggie McNeal. It was a graduation present and a good read. He said a lot of the same things that I've been writing about, except his was more thought out and a few years before me!

Here's my deal. I want a church (group of people) to be different, not just for the sake of new, but for the sake of discipleship. As I've been saying we really need to reevaluate the marks of a follower of Jesus (traditionally: church attendance, tithing, and helping the church) and use marks from the sermon on the mount, such as loving enemies, generosity, genuineness, and a love for God because of Jesus that spills over into our other relationships.

Basically, I really don't see much good in the institutional church. My goal is to massively decentralize things, and "disorganize" the church, if you will, in order to make it more effective and even more enjoyable in my opinion.


Anyhoo, I'm heading to VA today for a much deserved vacation and to see if I can't persuade someone to hire me. Maybe I can even find a dude or two who wants to help me start a church.
God only knows......

Finally!!

Well, I've got everything done (I think!) for graduation. The only thing left is to sign a few out-processing documents and walk the aisle in my festal garments.

I've been thinking about the discipleship process and church and blah-dee-blah-da-blooblooo, and I think I've come up with something. I think it's kind of cool, so I won't reveal it just yet (although I bet someone else somewhere has already come up with the stuff!).

I wanted to discuss some of the "purposes" of the church, and why I want to move beyond the purpose driven model. The church has one mission, and that is to make disciples, or build people to follow Jesus. Worship can be done anywhere, and if the church does its mission, it will glorify God. In fact, God is not glorified if the church's emphasis is just "worship time." The church's purpose is not fellowship, but fellowship serves the discipleship purpose. The same with ministry, ministry is not the church's purpose, but disciples will serve others based on the nature of our Teacher. Evangelism is not the purpose of the church, but is merely one part of the discipleship journey.

Discipleship would certainly be incomplete without these things, but they are merely aspects of Discipleship.

And discipleship is much more than education. Church should not be a laboratory, but should provide "on the job training" as its main teaching tool. Real learning and real growth happen in real life, not on some desert island away from the rabble of society.

More to come later.

The Leper Colony

I stole the title from a famous old movie called "12 o'clock High" starring Gregory Peck. It's an amazing movie on leadership and stuff and everyone should watch it.

Anyhow, this is not a commercial. There is a hot shot leader who thinks he is too good for everyone and doesn't respect Mr. Peck's authority. In response to this, the punk kid leader is put in charge of all the least-effective crew members on a plane named "The Leper Colony." The leader is told he has to make all these morons into the best unit or else risk dismissal.

Oddly enough, this is my dream, my quest, my mission, my goal. I would LOVE for my church to be a true Leper Colony, an Island of Misfit Toys, a League of Their Own, and soforth. In a way, I already have a glimpse of this working with Set Free, although I am not the pastor.

I'm sure that rich, successful people need Jesus just like everybody else, but that seems to be the only targets for church planting---after all, it worked pretty well for Rick Warren and Bill Hybels!

What if there were a group of idiots like me whose only goal in life was to avoid the trappings of the rich and powerful and successful? Who wanted to see a work that only God could do? Who wanted to move among the "lepers" of our day, as one of their own kind, and pull them to the only one who can cleanse them and make them new?

Well there just so happens to be one man foolish enough to go there, and his name is me!

Sit Down and Shut Up!!

I have really been thinking hard (aka wasting time) about coming up with a new purpose of the church. Basically, what I have seen is that churches want everyone but the pastor and song leader to just listen to them.

This is partially why I do so much music stuff in churches: A) I can't sit down or sit still long enough and B) I hate the music in most churches (but I already blogged about that!).

However people try to baptize it, church is basically just for the entertainment of the members. Sure, you sing along some times, but don't people even do that at music theaters and some movies?? Then, of course, there's the issue of taking the Lord's Supper out of all but four services a year. What's the point of even going to church? I don't do anything, there are better preachers and music on the radio, and the people are usually doing their own thing and cannot bring themselves to say anything more than "howya doin?" when they see you.

Both on paper and in practice, church needs to be a place where everybody does something, or has the opportunity to contribute something to the overall experience. This is one of the reasons that I am so enamoured with the house churches. I am still working on how to translate this into a larger setting. If it does translate into a larger setting, it may mean putting a heavier emphasis on small groups than on the "worship" service, which I am leaning toward calling a teaching service, because worship is more than an hour on Sunday: if worship is only for one hour a week, then it isn't worship!

What gets accomplished at church? If the church is just spinning wheels, no wonder so many people don't want to go!

Every member has something to offer, yet most do not have any idea what they can do for Jesus or for each other. And that's a problem. It might even be THE problem.

I'm Andrew Riley,
Good night, and good luck.

The Wrong Tuxedo

In speaking about all that's "wrong" with more traditional churches, I have had something playing in my mind over and over again.

There is a very memorable scene in the movie Dumb and Dumber (I like the TV version so all the bad stuff is cut out) where Jim Carey's character is trying on a series of tuxedos. He comes out in all these amazing, expensive, and fancy tuxedos and has just a horrible, uncomfortable look on his face.

Then, he finds a bright orange, hideously outdated tuxedo and top hat and just starts dancing around, happy as a puppy, while the salesmen are absolutely horrified.

That's me. Although other people like and respect all these other church forms, I am just miserable when I'm put in them. They may look good on me, but they feel so constricted and uncomfortable.

Yet, when I found this new tuxedo (the organic, emerging church), I immediately fell head over heals in love with it. It's what I was born to do!

So much more of the Bible makes sense in this context. I am now free to be creative and express the gifts that God gave me, and not pretend to be something I'm not. Evangelism flows from a love of God now, instead of some bully making me. My sermons get infused with passion when I talk about it! The world finally makes sense here.

I know that I may fall flat on my face and be an absolute failure at this endeavor to plant a church with virtually no support or financial backing. I don't care, because I've got Jesus, and that's got to count for something! Besides, I'll have a regular job, so I won't need the church's (or a mission organization's) money.

It all goes back to masculinity. I need risk. I need challenge. I need something that can only happen because of God. I just need to wear the tuxedo that fits. This is my quest.

"Certain death? Small chance of success? What are we waiting for?!" --Gimli, LOTR

The Missing Piece

With my imminent career in ministry as a pastor somewhere, I am increasingly convicted by my lack of vision, as far as big picture Christianity is concerned. I am struggling to find the "missing piece" of the puzzle, the "keystone," the "unified theory" that will put all this stuff that is swimming around in my head together. I feel like I'm at the eye doctor trying out lenses; he keeps asking "better or worse?" and I can't figure it out.

Here's what I know: I am dissatisfied with a lot of what I read about church and purpose. So much is wrapped up in individualism. That is, the way sanctification (or progressive holiness, if that even exists) happens is by personal prayer, personal Bible study, personal avoidance of sin, and personal evangelism. Well, if that is our goal, then all the church can do is train and instruct. This church is bringing people into the Kingdom.

Yet, I find that insufficient. So much of the Bible (especially the New Testament) is group-based and community-oriented. That is, God has made for himself a people, rather than a bunch of persons.

Granted, we don't lose our individual personalities, but what I mean is that the whole (community) is vastly greater than the sum of its parts (the individuals). Each individual has a key part to play in the functioning of the body. Each individual makes a difference in the body of Christ. Sanctification happens in community as believers exercise their spiritual gifts toward each other, as believers serve one another, and as believers take (as a team) the gospel to the lost.

In this way, the function of the church becomes taking the kingdom to the people. This church is focused outward, showing their faith by their works, experiencing the full life, even on earth, that Jesus promised. They are no longer working for the weekend (heaven), they are living in the present. In this way, God is more glorified by a visible community of living faith, rather than enjoying him privately (take THAT, John Piper!)