Why Bother With Church?

Before I start this morning, I am reminded that I can be speaking to myself! As one who was frustrated with the established church within my context…I moved out with what I felt GOD was calling me to do and planted a church…BUT…

We live in a culture which many Christians are dropping out of the community church setting and creating their own little environments (house churches). The reasons for this are numerous, but for the most part it is because they have been hurt in a variety of fashions OR it is because they have become frustrated with the institutional or established church. I do not have a problem with house churches per say (they are one of the places people met in the scriptures {Acts 5:42}) what I am addressing is some of the ‘attitude’ that is resonating from some of the believers who have found themselves in this situation.

Some believers feel that church in North America is spiraling out of control with the mega church ethos, the professional feel and the list can go on. It has got to the point where many believers spend a lot of their time critiquing other churches, while trying to build some sort of biblical community of their own…(somehow that seems to be a bit counter productive). These groups of believers however, have created the very thing that they reacted against. They have big names that they follow, have created a sense of exclusivity in that they have looked at others in the Kingdom and think themselves better or more informed, not too mention there is a hunger for recognition in that everyone wants to be published. (Ok, that is a paintbrush statement, but it works for this post!)

For those who wonder what the church is doing, and those on the outside who criticize the church for not doing better, I would recommend that they read Philip Yancey’s book Church: Why Bother? My Personal Pilgrimage. In his musings, Yancey is insightfully aware of the shortcomings of the church in all of it's humanness, yet he also declares that the church is the means God has chosen to be in the world today. As he wrote in "What's So Amazing About Grace," "I left the church because I found so little grace there. I came back because I found grace nowhere else."

In the first chapter Yancey starts with this quote from J.F. Powers' Wheat That Springeth Green that summarizes the whole conundrum of the church:
"This is a big old ship, Bill. She creaks, she rocks, she rolls, and at times she makes you want to throw up. But she gets where she's going. Always has, always will, until the end of time. With or without you."

Having grown up in a racist, fundamentalist church in the Deep South, Yancey has every reason to abandon the church. But he's found that the Christian faith can only be lived in community. "Perhaps for this reason, I have never given up on church. At a deep level I sense that church contains something I desperately need."

Yancey goes on to conclude that the church is the way God has chosen to be present on earth, as imperfect as it may be:
"Yes, the church fails in its mission and makes serious blunders precisely because the church comprises human beings who will always fall short of the glory of God. That is the risk God took. Anyone who enters the church expecting perfection does not understand the nature of that risk or the nature of humanity. Just as every romantic eventually learns that marriage is the beginning, not the end, of the struggle to make love work, every Christian must learn that church is also only a beginning."

Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church, posts on his blog that they just finished a teaching series where they talked about "church" being people and not a building. As part of the series, they had little blank white post cards in every bulletin and asked the question of everyone "What do you dream this church could be?" and then had them fill in the black on the card, "I Dream Of A Church....." and then whatever they might dream of.
Here are some of the responses…

I DREAM OF A CHURCH...
- that reaches the broken world to bring a healing that can only come from Jesus Christ
- that does not get caught up in technicalities and politics but stays focused on the Lord
- that helps me understand
- that is more about helping others than about us
- that listens to the Holy Spirit and is bigger than man's efforts
- is honest and open-minded rather than self-righteous and dogmatic OR has donuts. I will be OK with either.
- who is loving and unafraid
- accepts people where they are in life and not just when they have achieved a level of "spiritualness"
- grows in the knowledge of God and His love for the world
- lifts up Jesus and redeems things like the environment, stewardship, the arts and philosophy
- that prays for one another
- that serves others, feeds the hungry, visits the sick and imprisoned
- lives a diversity of thoughts, opinions, ages, worship expressions and celebrates the differences
- is a soft place to fall; that is a daily part of my life; that doesn't feel like a wall; that is the heartbeat of Christ
- that knows me and loves me anyway
- impacts the community around them so that it can be a light for Jesus in people's lives
- that gets lost in worshiping Jesus and lingers in His presence
- that is the church throughout the week and not just on Sunday
- that is real and where people are not fake and has a passion to serve those in need
- acts like a family, reaches out to community, accepts all people
- that Jesus would be proud of
- that changes lives by drawing people to Christ
- whose whole heart is consumed with Christ and flows to others
- that is completely outward focused and selfless
- that will challenge our minds to learn God's Word and support each other in our walks with God
- that doesn't isolate and separate ourselves from "this bad world"
- that is my family and my home
- that has a love for the untouchables of our era

Those responses are so cool! So why bother with church?
Yancey summarizes evangelist Luis Palau: "The church, he said, is like manure. Pile it together and it stinks up the neighborhood; spread it out and it enriches the world."

Thoughts?