We are the Church

My son's best friend spent the night at our house last night. They're both 12 and have been friends since they were 2. It was a joy to listen to them laugh and giggle as they watched angry ram videos on YouTube, shot each other with Nerf darts and played video games. Their friendship began as a result of a women's bible study more than ten years ago. Ileen and Heather became friends through that study. Early on in the relationship, Heather's husband was seriously injured in an automobile accident. If I recall correctly, I met Heather and Dave for the first time in the hospital room. Over the past ten years, the two families have strengthened and deepened the friendship in the usual ways; weekends away, holiday celebrations, get-togethers, kids events...pretty much normal Americana. We've also been there for each other through the storms of life...accidents, financial crisis and cancer. We know them and are known by them...We love and are loved.

So why do I share this with you? This story is not that unusual, right? Even in a go-go-go world, families still connect and develop deep friendships, don't they?

I submit to you that we, as people, are generally wired to desire to live our lives in community with others. And like everything else, this desire varies from person to person. Ileen is a "whole world" personality. She loves people...to know them. to hear their stories, to invest in them. There is not enough time, money or room in her Suburban!

"Can't we squeeze an extra person into the back?"

I, on the other hand, enjoy solitude. My preferred hobbies are fly fishing, woodworking and surfing...not exactly party games. Even so, I yearn for the same relationships Ileen does, if only on a smaller scale.

Our world has changed and with it, the ways we connect. We no longer grow up in the same neighborhood...and if we do, the neighbors move away. The way our lives are structured is different, too. Two income families, organized sports, music lessons, church, special interest activities...our time is governed by a calendar and a stopwatch as every moment of every day is allocated to a specific task. We're happy (and feel fortunate) to find time for a cup of coffee with the spouse. Even church, once a primary point of connecting with others, has become a scheduled to-do. Whether it's in our head or on our smart phones, life in these United States has become a whirlwind of activities and sometimes checking them off of our list is the only satisfaction we have when all is said and done.

How does all this relate to simple church? (You knew I was going to bring it back here, right?) Re-imagine your church experience...instead of sitting in a Sunday School classroom followed by a church pew for three hours on Sunday morning...what if you tried simple church? Instead of 3 hours of mostly listening and watching and a little bit of socializing, you had a half hour of socializing, followed by one and a half hours of worship, interactive study and prayer, followed by another hour sharing a community meal and the Lord's Supper. Can you see where this is going? People become more than names and faces when we hear their story, agonize with them in their heartbreak and rejoice in their triumphs. Ileen and I love Heather and Dave more than you can imagine because we were scared Heather might not make it...because they loved us even when we lost everything, including our home...because we have moved beyond the cursory pleasantries that are exchanged every day and in every setting by spending the time it took to do just that. "We" are the church...not the building...not Sunday mornings...not the pastor, choir and staff. Whether simple or institutional, the "church" is only a framework to provide structure for believers. a tool for our benefit. If and/or when that relationship becomes inverted and we are existing for the benefit of the institution, the time has come to re-evaluate.

Forever? What About Just a Really Long Time?

My Dad attended Calvary Baptist Church in Bellflower, California when he was a young boy. Over the years, his family moved, he joined the Navy, started his own family and eventually settled (lit is probably more like it...my Dad was/is part Gypsy) back in Southern California in the mid 1970's. We attended Calvary Baptist Church in Bellflower. And to his surprise, the lady that taught him in the 4th grade Sunday School class was now teaching my younger brother in the same 4th grade Sunday School class.

Ileen and I have been a part of several church start-ups...not necessarily the very beginning but early on when those that were active in the functioning of the church wore many hats. "All hands on deck" was the call and those that answered were given a wide variety of responsibilities and chores to take care of.

We've also attended churches where you learn the family's number before you know their name...You know..."We're the Smiths, the 7th family on the roll".

1 Corinthians 3:5-7 NLT
5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.

So why do I relate these three separate stories? As I was reading through 1 Corinthians this week, Paul called out the church in Corinth for being controlled by their sinful nature. In particular, he chides them for identifying themselves as "Followers of Paul" or "Followers of Apollos". It made me think. We church folk like to identify ourselves in such a way that it gains us status, don't we? Personally speaking, I have "casually" referenced my presence or participation in various ministries, especially the early days of now large and well known ministries, in hopes of getting a little ego boost...maybe an increase in status. I think there is just something about tenure or longevity that causes us to esteem those that have it. We assign value and prestige to Sunday School teachers that have been teaching the same class for 40 years, to families that have been there since the beginning and to those that are seemingly tireless in performing many and varied tasks within the church. Don't misunderstand...I am not inferring that there is something wrong with the doing or the being. But just as Paul pointed out that he was simply planting and Apollos watering, I think we need to evaluate our thoughts on both side of the equation. Are we assigning status to those that have served faithfully? Are we seeking status for our longevity? Our service?

The simple church structure can alleviate some of these issues and in a couple different ways. First, we meet under the headship of Jesus Christ. There is no pastor or figurehead to be placed on a pedestal, either by design or involuntarily. Secondly, the nature of simple church is intimate. Eventually, we all get to know each other, warts and all. It's hard to look up to (or down on) someone when you know and are known. Finally, there is a temporal nature to simple church. We intentionally meet to disciple and be discipled and to multiply. A core group of 20 today will not be a megachurch in five years...instead, we hope to have multiplied into 4, maybe 8, simple churches in that time. Planting and watering...planting and watering...and praying that Father will give the increase! That is the absolute beauty of the Simple Church...If God doesn't do it...it won't get done! He deserves all credit and glory which is ultimately what Paul was saying to the Corinthians. It's not important who does the work, what's important is that God makes the seeds grow.

Say What?!

Everyone remembers playing the children's game where information is whispered into one's ear and then passed from person to person...finally being regurgitated and usually bearing little or no resemblance to the original statement. Funny thing is, I still can experience that same phenomenon in my marriage...and, no, that is not a punchline to a joke. Ileen and I can have a conversation and all too often the next time it is revisited, it concerns a misunderstanding. Part of the problem is that I'm a guy...I get that. Another issue is the pace of life in the world today does not lend itself to true listening. But maybe even more fundamental is that we don't always "hear" what is said correctly...as in the intent or meaning is often lost in translation.

One of our major concerns regarding simple church is the accuracy of our theology. If no one has been to seminary, how will we know that we are accurately dividing the Word? But the more I have thought about this, the less concerned I have become. If the preacher stands in the pulpit and expounds upon a topic for 45 minutes in front of 100 or 1000 listeners; you can be sure that at the end of day there will be more than one version of the message being discussed over fried chicken. In fact, Jesus made statements that were not clearly understood by those who heard. Obviously, there will always be a problem with having everyone assimilate information that they hear 100% as it was intended.  So let's take hearing out of the equation, ok? Surely, if we read the bible together, we'll all come to the same conclusion, won't we? What's that? Ohh...that's why there are different denominations...huh!

And yet, we as believers are commanded to make disciples. Not go to seminary and then make disciples...just make disciples. But how? Institutional church has adopted the classroom approach: One teacher to many students...One pastor to many congregants. This works, to a certain degree...subject to the vagaries of what we hear and understand as we have already established. The discipling process can also be slowed by attendance habits, non-applicable sermon or lesson topics, even personnel changes.

I've said it before...it is my opinion that discipleship happens best in the context of a relationship. Jesus would often need to provide further explanation to the disciples in order for them to understand what He was saying. To assume that modern listeners hear and understand better now than then is too much to ask. Yet, I know that most members of institutional churches do not have direct access to the one bringing the message to gain further clarification. If we are commanded to make disciples and disciple-making is optimally done through relationships (and that is the example that Jesus provided), it makes sense to give that a try.

What excites me about simple church is that we have the opportunity to ask questions, discuss concerns, search the bible together to grasp precepts. And in this day of information overload, we have the option of hearing from many seminary-trained experts as they weigh in on topics via books, recorded messages, podcasts, blogs, etc. Even better? All of this learning is in the context of friendly, loving relationships rather than hard line denominational partisanship. We can "dare" to question the party line without concern of receiving a stern look and a pat answer in return. The simple church structure lends itself quite naturally to the discipleship process, especially when the believers are humbly submitting to the headship of Christ and fervently inviting Father's presence into their midst.