What's the deal with church?
And why it's essential to know why the church exists
Summer is flying by! Hope yours has been good. We have been trucking along with our weekly summer gatherings with students ( Check out previous article if you aren’t caught up to speed!).
A couple of weeks ago a group of us got together for our “discussion and dinner” night. Eleven students piled into one of our pastors homes in Lawrence to chow down on some tacos and discuss a hot topic. After we ate and chatted for a bit, we had everyone watch this video (check it out if you have time, it’s great!):
The topic of the evening … the CHURCH!
The goal of the evening was twofold; to help the students see clearly what they are swimming in daily, but more importantly how to think through these ideas.
We would pause at moments throughout the video and ask questions like “How would you have responded to this person in this scenario?”. “What is the common theme this person is saying?”. “What are the implications of this person’s ideas?”. “How are you thinking through what X is saying?”. “Where did an idea like this come from?”.
We don’t want to teach them what to think, but help them work through how to think.
We thought this topic was extremely important for 2 reason:
It’s vitally important that we understand and have a conviction about the role of the church/why the church exists
And these are thoughts and ideas (even if it’s not the specific ones in the video, the undertones are all similar) that we swim in daily on the college campus and in general
They are everywhere and range from these:
“The church is bad”
“Church is suppose to make me feel good/happy. If it doesn’t, it must be the church’s fault”
“This pastor wasn’t that great of a speaker. He didn’t make me laugh, I’ll find a new church”
“I didn’t like the vibe”
“It’s so judgemental!” (Maybe sometimes, or they are speaking what is true)
The list could go on!
A lot of the undertone of poor ideas of the church come from this - “ The church exist to serve me”
And without a proper view of the church (however we come to it, sometimes not our own fault at all), it is easy to start buying into these sorts of things. I know I have and still do sometimes.
But what’s the deal with the church?
How easy it is to forget the basic existence of the church - To GLORIFY GOD. Church is about GOD. Once we have this straightened out first, some things tend to line up a little easier.
It is God’s house (1 Tim 3:15, Hebrews 3:6).
It is a Place people encounter the Living God (1 Tim 3:15)
A place believers worship God.
The body of Christ. Everyone bringing his/her gifting and differences to worship God and serve one another (1 Corinthians 12: 12-31)
Rooted and on the foundation of Jesus Christ and His living Word (1 Corinthians 3: 9-14)
Where lost find healing and change
The church is committed to God’s word and His truth. His truth Defines - not what we think about it or our feelings of it.
The church is committed to fellowship with one another.
The church is a training room not a spa day. A place people are equipped and trained to be disciples that change the “world” around them (Ephesians 4: 11-13)
A place where people are fed, encouraged, and built up in their faith. Our involvement with the local church goes hand and hand with our growth.
It is the power of God on display (Acts 2)
Of course people can do dumb things within the church. But that doesn’t mean the church is awful.
The church is beautiful. It is part of God’s Plan A of restoring the earth back to the fullness of his love, peace, and joy, and righteousness. It is first and foremost about God, not me.
And we pray and believe that these students that came to this evening will grow more in love with the church the rest of their lives! Please pray with for the same!
Side note: Our daughter Izzy is one year old today. Insane how fast the year has gone! Please pray that she will be a mighty woman for God’s Kingdom!