Thoughts about church

Church is the body of Christ, people, living life together in community.

Our American definition of "church" is different from this. Our definition is really more like that of teaching. I think going to Breakaway and going to church is the same thing- going to a place to listen to teaching with other people, believers and non believers.

I think it's more an issue of terminology than whether we're right about church. What we think church is should have a different name. Our "church" is not necessarily a bad thing but it's not church in a biblical sense.

This is a concept that most people don't understand because we have taken our definition of church, inserted it into the word "church" in the Bible and interpreted the Bible accordingly. Thus, we have interpreted God's Word to fit our definition and our definition of Christianity follows in that framework. So, to us, it all makes sense. Instead, we should look at God's Word without preconceived ideas in mind, interpreting it based on what it says rather than based on what we've been taught of what we believe.

With this in mind, when the Bible says that the church lived life in community (not hung out once or twice a week) where they prayed constantly and put Christ first, that was the early church. And awesome things happened. "Church" simply isn't the right word for what we use it for.

Instead of something we associate with, church, defined as the called out ones, is what we are. Going to church isn't wrong or bad. It's just not the point. It's not complete. There is so much more.

The problem with the American idea of church is that we are settling for less that what God intended for us. Church is a lifestyle. Church is where God can use His Body to jointly advance His Kingdom.

Now, advancing His Kingdom is a whole other issue in itself. It doesn't mean evangelism, though that can be part of it. It means loving. It means the ministry of reconciliation, connecting people to their Source, resulting in life. It's not futuristic. It's present, here and now! God created us to live simple lives in community, not with community, where we love Him, we love each other and we love all people as a result of Him pouring out from within us. That's it. It's simple.

Really, because loving people is a way to love God, it all even more simply comes down to receiving God's love and loving Him back. All of life comes back to this. When life is simple we can focus better. We can focus on God instead of whether we're doing things "right" or our "ministries". We are free to simply live, to walk with God and know Him. Then we fall in love all the more.

The new question becomes, what does church look like? The answer to this question is different for everyone. To know what it looks like for you, just ask God. He’ll tell you. He probably won’t show you everything at once because you wouldn’t believe it, but He’ll show you in time.