The LOCAL Church

In the New Testament, churches were generally identified by their locale. The church at Phillipi, the church of Laodicea, etc.

I don't know about you, but for most of my life, I attended "church" about 1/2 hour away, at least. I know that as a kid, our family did this in order to attend the type of gathering that we believed did everything 100% right (I'm chuckling even as we speak!). As an adult, we did it to find a place that was most in line with what we believe Biblically, best for our family, decent preaching, etc. You know the drill.

But when I look through the new testament, it seems a little more organic than that. What do you think? There had to be something about those local gatherings that were a powerful testimony in the areas where they met. I realize that much of this could just be my imaginings but I'm just picturing the impact it would have, say, in a small town like mine, if the true believers here met together around Jesus instead of a set of distinctives. What would that say to the world? If our head is Jesus and not "Pastor Smith" we eliminate a whole lot of problems.

What if they do this and we don't? What if we sing this and they don't? These things become a problem because most churches today, in my opinion, gather around a preaching service rather than gathering around Jesus. We meet for programs that have been put in place rather than around the Lord. We put a spoon in the pastor's hand and tell him to feed us, contributing to the 'eternal babyhood of the believer', instead of picking up a spoon and feeding ourselves. Until I decide that I am responsible to make sure that I 'eat', nothing is going to really take root in my life. Yes, God has given some to be teachers. I'm just not sure that it's always going to look like one guy giving a lecture to the rest of the body for exactly 30 minutes each week. I think teaching happens in many different settings, a lecture is only one of them. I think those verses in Deuteronomy 6(yesterday's post) give a better picture of effective teaching. What are those lessons you've learned the best? Those you've personally walked through. When Paul said, "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Christ Jesus".......it comes to life after you've walked through need, or when someone who has personally walked through it shares it with you. My children know that "the borrower is servant to the lender" because we walked through getting rid of debt and shared it with them.

Again, I'm not talking about joining a church that doesn't believe that Jesus is the only way. I'm not talking about joining a church anyway! It's so much simpler than that. I'm talking about Hebrews 10:25......assembling together with other believers.

I think if the church was functioning like it did in the New Testament, the church would see more of what they saw in the New Testament. Thousands being added to their number. Right now I believe the church is weak. I think we are merely a caricature of what the church was meant to be. When I read through the New Testament, this group we call the church was a force to be reckoned with. They walked in power. The stuff they saw happening in their midst couldn't be duplicated by the Boy Scouts or the Lions Club or any do-gooder type program. The gates of hell were not to prevail against us.

I believe that if the church was functioning as it should, it would literally alter what our cities looked like. Bars would be closing, strip clubs shutting down, you name it.....not because of legislation, but because of supply and demand. Unfortunately most of what we do 'in church' has become somewhat of an academic pursuit. We spend a great deal of time turning the Bible into merely a text book. Please understand.....I think we need to be in the Word ALL the TIME. But I think sometimes we spend so much time pursuing it academically that we don't go out and live it with each other and with our neighbors. We take a part of our lives that most people look at as boring (sitting in a classroom for 13 years) and take our exciting gospel and put it in the same format. Eeeewww. Don't get me wrong, I love to learn. Just not that way! And I don't think I'm alone. Would you rather hear someone teach about the amazon jungle by standing in front of you relating facts, or have someone sit down with you and share facts about the Amazon through his stories of traveling through it for ten years? Better yet, how would you like to learn about it by taking a guide along and navigating it yourself?

I remember hating history as a kid in school. I grew up. I happened to travel to Boston. Wow! I saw Paul Revere's house, some graves of famous historical figures, walked into the building where the lanterns were placed before Paul Revere's famous ride. Guess what? I was hooked. I love history.

We need to bring Jesus out of the classroom. We need to 'bring Him to life' in front of the world, in front of our kids, and in front of the body.

We need to hide His Word in our hearts. Nobody can do that for us. Then we need to pass what we've learned on to others and they need to do the same.

Another rambling post. Sorry. At least the new name of my blog is accurate.