REVOLUTIONARY?

It's late, so I might ramble a little as I write this, but hopefully I will communicate what I'm trying to say in tonight's post. Here goes. I was having a discussion the other day with Dawn and we were talking about the "church" and what it's really all about. Now, if you haven't been in our discussions in the past then you might get caught off guard with some of this. We were talking about how much the church in today's society looks very much like the church during Christ's time on earth. It seems that much of what is happening in church is the result of what has always been done and not necessarily of what needs to be done. Now, don't get me wrong here, there are some God-fearing followers of Jesus in the church, but as we have considered attending other churches in our area we have realized that they are all the same. Yeah, they may have some different types of music or they may have skits or dancers or a different "flavor" but really their offering the same food. They worship through song, they pray once or twice, they take up an offering and then someone preaches. The people leave and they come back to do it all again maybe on Wednesday or again on Sunday. It's just following the rules and avoiding the "bad" that's what christianity seems to limited itself too. And you know what? That's sad. I'm sure that God can't be happy with that. Whatever happened to the church being people instead of a place we go? When did we get to the place that we stopped knowing how to minister to people who didn't come inside our buildings? When did we stop going out and being among the people and ministering to them on their turf? I don't know when it happened, but it stopped long before I was born and unfortunately, I was taught to do the right program and the people will come to us. Sorry, wrong answer, but that is really the mindset of many who call themselves christians in North America. I really think that we are heading toward another shift in how we "do" church in our country. I think there will be someone like Luther who will once again begin a new revolution and shake up the church. Maybe he or she is already standing out in the desert leading the path, maybe it will be more than one, but I believe it will soon happen. A realization that I've had is that even our prayer life and scripture reading are a result of this type of programming mindset that we've all been taught to follow. Both are just one of the steps that we must add in the mix if we want it to be "successful". We even have charity prayers in church once or twice per week. We've lost the understanding that prayer is vital to who we are in Christ. It's more of a thing we check off our list each day rather than the thing we depend upon to make it through the day. And, not just to make it through, but to be able to hear and do what God is calling us to do on a moment by moment basis. I can't say I've ever really experienced that, but I've read about it in the Bible. How else would the Apostles be able to know when and who to heal? How could they even have that kind of belief or faith if they didn't trust that God was leading them in that moment? I'm rambling like I said I would, sorry. The church of Christ was supposed to be the body of Christ. It's supposed to be an organism not an organization. It's supposed to move and stretch, reach out and pull close. It's supposed to be more than a place to gather, rather it's supposed to be Christ to a world who is desperately seeking something or someone that will save them. I've been asking myfelf lately, What's it going to take to shake the church up again? Who's going to be brave enough to step out and fight for what we're supposed to be doing? Who's going to have the guts to step outside of the four walls of their church building and instead of inviting someone to church will become the church to someone who needs Jesus? I'm praying that I am. I'm praying that I will find myself going to do that. But, truthfully, it can't be done alone. It can only happen when we all begin to get to the place that we are truly wanting more from our experience with God than routine and security. We've retreated within our four walls because they are safe, but unfortuneately, they are dull and lack life. Jesus, on the other hand, knew that the life that he promised us was among the people. That's were the party was, that's where the challenges were, that's when the miracles happened. So, I guess my question to you the reader of this long post is: Are any of you ready to step out of the building and get into the Body? Are you willing to join me and more importantly Christ in this? My prayer for you is that you are.
May you consider all that God is offering you today.
Blessings.