So Do I Have To Go To Church?

As we have been processing this question, why do we have to go to church when we are the church, I can imagine some are fearful that I am trying to get rid of the church service. But that is not true.

Just because we are the church does not give us a reason to forsake the assembly of believers coming together to worship God. Jesus spent time in the synagogue teaching and preaching because it was what He did while He was going from place to place. He made it part of His life. Check out the believers in Acts 2:40-47. Here we find the believers continuing steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and spending time daily in the temple together.

Being the church is a change of thinking. If you do not go to church to fulfill some kind of unwritten law of being a Christian, then why go to a building? To worship God! Fellowships of believers is not to be about our programs, event, classes, etc. - it is to be about God! Somewhere our mindset has shifted from just simply going to show our love of God to what can I do at the church to prove God.

How powerful would our churches be if the pastor shifted from teaching his wonderful sermon to leading people to see a holy God. What would happen if our singing moved from "I" centered (think about how many songs talk about what I will do or what I am) to God centered. What if instead of people coming to a building to get something, they cam to give something. If this were to happen then maybe we could become the church that storms the gates of hell rather than sitting in our ivory tower watching people go to hell!

So I do not advocate that we never assemble together, but that our assembly is about the church coming together to truly worship a holy God!

How Do I Become the Church?

So hopefully you get what I am talking about being the church rather than going to church. Now I am not saying you don't have to gather together, but we will discuss this tomorrow. Today I want to answer the question on how to get outside of the walls of a building to become the church. When ever you need an example of what to do, don't grab the latest Christian self-help book - look at the example Jesus gave us in the Bible.

The book of Matthew shows Jesus' plan to take the church to the people. He lived it among them. Check out these examples:

• 4:18-22 - As Jesus was walking He called some disciples


• 5:1 - When Jesus was seated on a mountain, his disciples came to him


• 8:1-4 - When Jesus came off of the mountain He encountered a leaper


• 8:5-13 - When Jesus entered Capernaum a centurion came to him


• 8:14-15 - When Jesus went to Peter's house He found Peter's mom was sick


• 8:28-34 - When Jesus crossed the sea to the country of Gergesenes, he encountered a demon possessed man


• 9:9-13 - After Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to follow Him, he sat at a table in the house and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Him

I will stop here, but go check out the book of Matthew for yourself to see how Jesus was the church. Yes, He went to the synagogues to preach and teach but that was not all that He did. In fact the stories we see of Jesus is Him healing the sick, teaching, preaching, feeding the hungry outside of church walls. Jesus did all of these things, as He went. It was part of His day! He always had time for children, those in need physically, and those in need spiritually.

So what about my day? In my busyness to perform my church duties, do I take opportunities for those right around me. Maybe being the church isn't so hard, but slowing down to encounter people is. I believe that God wants me to be willing to lay everything aside to take those opportunities to speak into people's lives. Will I do it, or will I be to much in a hurry?

What about you? Who will you encounter today that God wants you to be the church to? Will you be aware of the opportunity, or will you be so preoccupied that you miss it? Why don't we start our day by asking God to give us His view of people. As He opens our eyes to those around us, stop what you are doing and be the church to those who are in need.

Are You the Church?

Yesterday we started talking about the idea of being the church rather than going to church. I know some of you are reading this and saying, "Oh this is just a play on words." Please go deeper than this and notice the deep theological statement that a five year old boy made.

Let's face it most believers think that their responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission is to pass out a flyer about an event at the church, invite someone to attend a church service, or pass a tract to a waitress. This idea of evangelism is void of depth and relationship, but it is very convenient for the busy believer. Why is it that most church members think it is the paid staff responsibility to visit the sick and witness to the lost? May I suggest something that you may not like. We as church leaders have set it up this way!

In an effort to feed our egos and self-worth we need the church to need us. We like it when our members say things like: "Oh, I don't know what I would do without you; You are the greatest pastor; and I am so glad you were there for me" Before we can teach people to be the church we must ween ourselves from defining ourselves by a church building or programs or being busy.

Sorry about that tangent, but as leaders of a church we must equip people to be the church. We must be intentional about making disciples that are more than our groupies, but can go out and make other disciples. Am I willing to invest into people that will leave me to accomplish what God has in store for them? Am I willing to invest into people who may never attend a service at The Journey? Am I willing to lay aside programs for the opportunity to build relationships? If I am not, then I can make my disciples; but not necessarily disciples of Jesus. Disciples of Jesus do not go to church, but are the church.

Do You Go To Church?

The past several days I have had the greatest opportunity to visit with Real Life Ministries, a church built on relationships in Post Falls, Idaho. If you are a church planter and want to do more than just talk about building relationships but want to see it in action - then get yourself to Real Life Ministries. It was the best conference I have ever attended in 15 years of ministry!

There was so much I came away with that I could post for the next year. But I want to focus this week on one question. Darren, one of our small group leaders, told the story about a conversation his two boys had on the way to church. The question was asked while in the car when the family was going somewhere where they were going. The older son responded by saying, "We are going to church". The younger son (5years old) asked a serious question to that, "How can we go to church when we are the church?"

This question has rocked my world! "How can we go to church when we are the church?" Honestly as a church planter I have gotten off focus from my vision to equip people because I need a service, program, etc. to draw people in. I don't want to build a church for people to attend, I want to equip people to go be the church in their workplaces, homes, neighborhoods, schools, etc. If I am just trying to get people in, then what good does that do besides making me look like a sucess in the eyes of others.

I won't go to far with this today, because we will work it through the week. So for today what does this question mean to you - "How can we go to church when we are the church?"