this is how i’m doing: in case you were wondering…

This happens to me every time I read practical books (my favorite kind);  I get a few paragraphs or pages into a chapter and I have to put the book down to ponder a nugget of knowledge on a grander scale.  This just happened to me again with Adler’s “How to Read a Book”.

“If the author uses a word in one meaning, and the reader reads it in another, words have passed between them, but they have not come to terms.  Where there is unresolved ambiguity in communication, there is no communication, or at best communication must be incomplete.  Just look at the word “communication” for a moment.  Its root is related to the word “common.”  We speak of a community as a group of people who have something in common.”

After I read that, I immediately began to consider it in context of the Church.  The Church is a community of people who have one thing in common;  faith in Jesus Christ.  We come from every age, race, ethnicity, and socio-economic background, yet we (the Church) all have the same thing in common.  If we look at local churches as being a part of the greater Church, then they all should be equal.  If the local body professes faith in Christ and evidence of this faith is present (the fruits of the Spirit), then the Baptist church next to the Pentecostal church next to the Bible church are all equal.  So, then how do I choose a church to be a part of?

I’ve wrestled with this for the better part of this year.  Could I be so arrogant to think that I will choose the “best” local church?  Is there even such a thing?  If they are a part of the Church, as I am, does anything else matter when it comes to deciding on a church?  What if I could look past all of the differences and see the one true commonality — I think it could make all the difference.

I’ve been considering proximity as my main factor, which should be interesting.  The four churches within a mile of my apartment (why so many??) are, in order of proximity: First United Pentecostal Church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Glennwood Church of Christ and Rice Road Church of Christ.  Definitely out of my comfort zone.

One day, we’ll all focus on being the Church instead of going to church.

Recently the University of North Texas has seen a steady increase in the number of students enrolled, which now approaches 35,000.  With some classes filled to capacity at 500 students, the University has decided to take an interesting approach to resolve space issues.  This fall the University began construction of a new auditorium style classroom which will hold nearly 2,000 students.  The plan will be to consolidate multiple sections of courses, like freshman English, into fewer, larger sections.  “Students want to be in larger classes with their peers because it creates a sense of community” said one University official.  “It only makes sense; it’s hard to feel like your taking the same class when you’re not there at the same time and place.”  The University is already making plans to create even larger lecture halls in the coming years to accommodate future growth.

In addition to the added sense of community, students have noted that larger classes make it easier to learn.  “I’m not worried about getting called on in class or being required to participate — it’s not really my learning style.  I feel I learn more when I can just listen to the lecture and take notes”, said one student.  “Sometimes I don’t even have to go to class because I can get the lectures online now.  This is a real plus for me with my busy schedule.”

The new classroom will cost approximately $10 million dollars to complete and will include a number of amenities to aid in learning such as plasma screen T.V.’s and stadium style seating.  The University hopes to secure the needed funds by asking each student to commit to donating an undetermined amount of money each month for several years.  “We don’t want to say how much it will cost each student because each student is different and we hope they will seriously consider how much they will be able to contribute over the next 3-5 years.”

Sounds absurd?

If “bigger is better” doesn’t work in the classroom, why do we think it works for the Church?

I had a great conversation with Adam the other day about Church and it either confirmed that I’m NOT crazy OR that we are BOTH equally crazy.  I’m hoping for the former.  I’d love to  hear your opinions on the matter as well.

Really, my thoughts can be summed up into church size.  I have seen no spiritual advantages of a congregation of 5,000 people vs a congregation of 100.  Oh, I have seen some of the amazing things a large congregation can do because of their resources — but what positive affect does a larger congregation have on an individual’s spiritual growth?  I can’t think of any.

If you didn’t already know, I’m a member of the Village Church (which technically makes me Baptist despite my Wesleyan and Methodist roots) which is a multi-site, multiple thousand member church with an average weekly attendance of around 5,000 people across 9 different services in 2 locations.  The church’s small group model is that of “we are a church of small groups” — meaning the idea is to have everyone apart of a smaller group, which is where community is suppose to happen.  Home group leaders rely on home group coaches (each coach responsible for 3-5 leaders) and those coaches rely on area pastors for support.  Membership at the Village requires being in a home group.  In theory, every member would then be a part of a small group and a that group a part of a number of groups creating mini churches which breaks the 2000+ membership into much more manageable and practical numbers.

I’ve seen the flow chart, and I think it’s a great idea — but I haven’t seen a working example.  I’ve been to the home group leader retreat and listened to the new plan to make all of our ministries fit into our group model but I don’t really see how they intend to make this all work.  I don’t understand why we don’t plant more churches… or… equip and train people to go and serve in congregations where we already live.

My local church is anything BUT local for most of us who attend — why is that?  How much more effective would the local church be if it were local?  What do you think?  How far do you go to “go to church”?

What’s your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/WesleyanYou are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God’s grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Fundamentalist 64% Emergent/Postmodern 64% Reformed Evangelical 54% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Neo orthodox 46% Classical Liberal 43% Roman Catholic 21% Modern Liberal 14%

Okay, while I actually agree with the Wesleyan thing (I did grow up Methodist after all and, while I’m not Methodist I do dig me some John Wesley) it’s the next two that had me scratching my head.  Is that even possible??  Emergent Fundamentalism?? This is why I hate labels.

Although I think it’s safe to say that we’re all pretty bad Catholics…

I still get a newsletter and updates from a church back home in Killeen that I have’t attended in over 8 years — how do they keep finding me??  I’m to lazy to tell them that I’m not coming back haha.  Anyway, recently I got a letter from the pastor of this church that disturbed me a bit.  Some background; the church was pretty much dying, and apparently there was some inner turmoil about the time that this new pastor took charge.  They have nearly twice the number of members than active attenders and were struggling to make ends meet which resulted in the sale of their south campus building.  They have an aging downtown facility which they claim is outdated and will not provide for future growth so they are selling the current facility and building a new bigger and better one soon.  They just kicked off their capital campaign which was the topic of the most recent letter.  In it, the pastor stated:

“Our new facilities will give our church family the space for meaningful worship, Christian education, fellowship, and recreation.  We will have a greater opportunity to share in ministry, outreach, missions, and to invite others to Christ and His church.”

My question, and what I take issue with, is this — can a building influence worship?  Or, SHOULD a building influence worship?  I just don’t buy the tired excuses “I can’t worship to that style of music” or “I can’t get into worship sitting in a pew”.  I think that line of thinking results from a misunderstanding of what worship truly is.  Christian culture has (in my opinion) done a great job of narrowly focusing the definition of worship to what we do on Sunday morning before the sermon.  Terms like, “worship leader” and “worship music” and even “worship service” seem to place more emphasis on the event than on the act or art of worship.

If you cannot worship in an environment, the environment is not the problem; it’s a heart issue.  I cannot imagine “because the drums were too loud” being a valid excuse when Christ asks why we did not worship Him.  “The service was too crowded” doesn’t cut it either.  We are called to worship in spirit and in truth — that call is not environment dependent.