Church

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Amateur Hour Pageants

Our church just announced this year’s Christmas Eve “Experience.” It will truly be an event, with an official title (for promotional purposes, I assume), a huge cast, handcrafted costumes, well-built scenery, lights, carols—even ice skating!—plus a reenactment of the nativity and a candlelight service. Thousands of people will come to each of the three performances, and I’m sure they’ll be impressed.

The church we attended when our kids were young was much smaller—350 people instead of 10,000. There was no way we were going to compete with the huge productions of much larger churches. Instead, our Christmas program was pretty much the complete opposite.

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Is the Great Commission for Every Christian?

“My goal is that everyone in this church go on a short-term mission trip.”

Our Mission Pastor was talking to the “Global” Sunday School about our church’s mission strategy. I was sitting there, mostly nodding, until we came to this declaration. Everyone? Does God want that?

The Great Commission is a familiar passage to most Christians: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you….” (Matthew 28:19-20)

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Do You Speak “Church”?

I was sitting in church Sunday while one of our pastor was welcoming visitors. As happens every week, he invited anyone new to come to the visitor reception held after each service. The projectionist lit up the “glowing orb” over one pair of doors, highlighted the exit one could take to find snacks, a meet-and-greet with several pastors, and this week’s free gift (is there any other kind?). But what struck me was that the sign projected over the door didn’t just say “Guests.” It said “Guest Central.”

We seem to have a habit of giving special names to everything our church does. Instead of mere announcements, we have the “NLC3.” We don’t just have a Christmas program, we have “Wonderland.” And last year, we didn’t just have a weekly prayer meeting, we experienced “Revival Town.”

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Judging One Another

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2, italics mine)

But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:11-13, italics mine)

Confused yet? I certainly have been. How can I reconcile verses that seemingly contradict one another?

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Sin and Grace

As I mentioned in my post last week on “Hate the sin…”, there seems to be a backlash among Christian writers. Everyone is up in arms over survey results showing that the church is primarily known for its judgmentalism and hypocrisy. In an effort to repair the damage and improve our image—and hopefully move closer to the truth—a number of noted authors are coming out with books proclaiming God’s grace and acceptance of everyone and everything. The problem is many of them are ignoring the reality and consequences of sin. Here are my thoughts on three recent reads:

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Hate the Sin…

“Hate the sin but love the sinner.” I’m sure that’s Hesitations 3:16, isn’t it? How often have we heard that phrase and just accepted it as gospel truth. But is it?

I have no problem with the idea of loving the sinner. I do that all the time. I love my friends. I love my kids. I love my husband. I even love my self.

Of course, “love the sinner” is usually used with regard to unbelievers. In that case, it’s even more clear. We’re supposed to love our neighbors, no matter what their view of God.  Yet, often the church doesn’t do a very good job of this.

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I Love My Body

Last time I examined some reasons people give for going to church. Today I want to talk about why I go. It isn’t the singing, although that’s important. And it isn’t the sermon, although I enjoy listening and learning. It isn’t even because of the many times I’m intensely aware of God’s presence during the service, although that’s a side-effect of being together. (God meets me in other circumstances as well.)

The main reason I go to church is because that’s where the body is. Following God is something we just can’t do alone.

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Why Do You Go to Church?

Why do you go to church?

I hadn’t really thought about it before… that’s what Christians do, right? But then several people challenged my assumptions, and this question has been nagging me ever since.

I didn’t always go to church. My family wasn’t “religious” and church wasn’t part of my childhood. When I became a believer, at the end of my freshman year in college, all my Christian friends assumed I’d be going to church with them—so I did. I’ve been attending church regularly ever since.

Recently, during my search for a meaningful church experience, I re-examined my purpose in attending a weekend service. What was the point? I searched through scripture, talked to friends, and read books and articles. Along the way, I learned a few things.

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A Church in a Church in a Church

Over the past few months I’ve written a couple of blogs about my confusion over how to “do” church—one in April and one in May. I explained that at our current mega-church, I felt more like a member of an audience than a member of a family, and that I was exploring other options. At the same time, my husband emphatically wanted to stay right where we are, and I wasn’t going to make any changes without him.

It seemed like a stalemate. Happily, God is pretty amazing. In His wisdom, He had the situation under control and a solution was waiting for just this moment.

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