the perfect church
I am hungry. Not for food. But for a real church. For a real community. To be a part of an organism that has been built by God: a living being that infects its community and points people toward God, constantly and with every single activity and outreach and gathering that it holds.Today I listened to a sermon online that dealt with this topic, and it gave me goosebumps. The pastor spoke about us catching even just a tiny glimpse of what God wants to build here on earth, and as I listened to the excitement in his voice I felt my pulse quickening. The text for the sermon was Acts 2:41 – 47:
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
I know I have written about this before, but it has taken on a renewed importance for me, as it seems I have once again discovered myself “church-less.” I have had several conversations with different people, in which I have been accused of searching for the “perfect church” or being “too critical.” It has gotten to the point where I have started to question if maybe I am looking for something that doesn’t really exist. But I can’t ignore the conviction in my heart that “church” is more than teams or committees or clever props or cool bulletin graphics. It’s more than perfectly coordinated church choir robes and family singing groups and whether or not you make a big deal out of wearing a suit, or a big deal out of wearing flip-flops. How much we must insult God by our Sunday morning circus acts! How foolish we must appear to the outside world, who honestly probably doesn’t care whether or not the pew cushions match the new carpet, or whether or not they can bring their coffee cup into the sanctuary with them.
I am being reminded lately that church has nothing to do with a building or a denomination. Church, if it’s done right, is completely about people … about people doing normal, everyday things like eating bread together and giving someone a pair of pants if they don’t have any. It’s about walking by someone on the street and looking up and acknowledging them, instead of casting your eyes to the ground to avoid saying “hi” to a stranger. Church is not limited to Sunday mornings – we have the opportunity and the privilege to “do” church at any given moment on any given day. We don’t need a degree from a seminary to be a pastor … because of the country in which we live, we have the incredible freedom to carry our Bible with us, and to open it and share truth with someone, whether we know that person or not. We don’t need to be elected to a committee to lead worship – we can grab a guitar and a song book and stand on a street corner or in the community room of a rest home, and we can sing songs about Jesus and the hope we have through Him. We don’t need to wear a special nametag that designates us as a greeter, we can look all around us and see people just yearning for someone to say hello to them and to make them feel welcome, wherever they happen to be. If you want to be involved in outreach, open your door, walk out of your house, knock on your neighbor’s door, and invite them to come over. Open up your Bible and pray and talk and challenge each other and stay up late wrestling with truth and ideas and passions. If you want to be a part of a prayer ministry, turn off the tv and fall to your knees and talk and listen to God. Think about the people you talked to that day and ask God to bless them and reach them and touch needs that you don’t even know exist.
When I heard that message today, I was filled with a renewed sense of hope, as I am reminded what church really is supposed to look like. I am not searching for the perfect church, I am searching for a church that IS chasing after a perfect God. The passage mentions that “everyone was filled with awe” … how often do any of us find that about churches today? What are the chances of finding a church that functions so well that it inspires awe within you – or even more, that it inspires awe within someone who is not saved?
The believers in the passage couldn’t get enough – they couldn’t get enough of God, of prayer, of fellowship with each other. They weren’t looking at their watches or craning their necks toward the clock on the wall to see if it was noon yet, and if they were free to go their own ways toward all-you-can-eat buffets and Sunday afternoon naps. No! They were glad and sincere about enjoying the favor of all the people. They gave things away so that they could bless their brothers and sisters. They left one place (a church building, maybe?) and went together to another (homes) … they shared stimulating conversation and joy and tears and a hunger and a unified passion and vision. They worshipped God through all that they did. THIS is what I am looking for, and I am convinced that until I find it – I will continue to feel that I am missing out on something big.
This doesn’t mean that I stop going to church, or that I decide to start holding my own services on Sunday morning with my dogs. It means that, until I connect with a community that has a real focus on God, I "do" church on my own. I visit, I pray, I reach out, I love, I write notes to friends, I send cards to missionaries, I open doors and let in strangers, I get in front of groups of elderly people and sing my off-tune heart out, I bake cookies for neighborhood children, I keep sandwiches in my car to hand out to homeless people, I open my Bible and share a verse with a friend who is discouraged, I engage … I live church as best I know how, not because I am any better than anyone else, but because I can not compromise what I know to be true. God has done something within me, and for that I will have to answer to Him.
This hunger for community within me is there for a reason, and I am starting to think that reason is so that somehow God can show me what church should be about. The ultimate end in all of this, in what a church should be, and in anything I do, is the glory of God … so I will keep on doing what God shows me to do, and maybe someday (soon, hopefully) I will find myself beside other people who are doing the same.
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