What is the church, what is prayer, what is worship? So many times our perspective and practice of these things are skewed from years of routine, dead tradition, and performance mentalities. Let us define these together; I want these explanations to be deep but simple, challenging but hopeful, understandable and yet insightful.
Out of these 3 areas, the church is the first one we must tackle; and before we get started I want to say that I love the church. I love God's people, and the Holy Spirit is alive and at work even when we don't see it. There are many communities that honor each other well, who obey the Father's voice, who know who Jesus is, and live from His victory. There are communities and leaders that I respect, that I know are Godly, and that cultivate genuine and intentional interaction with each other and with the Lord.
I also recognize God's ability to work with all of us in the midst of our misunderstanding, our stupidity, and our inability to relate with Him in a full way. We are all realizing more and more God's love for us, and the freedom that we truly have because of Christ's sacrifice. I desire to rejoice in every small victory, and all evidence of the Holy Spirit's work, no matter how small I deem it.
I also recognize that when large groups of people get together you need structure; you need a plan otherwise there would be chaos. I do not think that structure is bad, in fact it is necessary, but we can come to a place of serving that structure rather than making the structure serve us.
I say these things because my language is going to become more critical, even more cynical; but just as my hope drops in man's capability to religiously regulate community and transformation, my hope and excitement grows in knowing what the Father desires and is capable of working in and through us.
As you read, try not to automatically exclude yourself from my generalized observations and convictions; for I think much of this applies to all of us one way or the other (that is probably why we call it a 'generalization'). After all we live in a very 'churched' nation, where most everyone has had some experience with church in one way shape or form; and unfortunately that experience isn't always positive.
In defining the church, my hope is that you are able to begin to questions why it is we do things the way we do. Who's idea was it to meet once a week and have an educational lesson? Why do we pray the way we do? Do I need a 'prayer voice'? Should I kneel, bow, or stand in prayer? What is worship? Is God glorified by my words or by my heart's affection? For my part, I think these questions are even the wrong ones to ask, and they themselves reveal a deep misunderstanding of our connection with God and how simple it is to actually relate with Him in a genuine way. Our preconceived notions, self-dependent theology, and religious pre-disposition can easily keep us from the truth of walking with, and experiencing God Himself! I do not want to have "a form of Godliness that denies His power (2 Timothy 3:5)", but unfortunately that is often how we function (myself included).
Church is a word that carries many connotations both negative and positive. Some people see church as a building where Christians meet. Others see the church as a group of narrow minded, stubborn, hypocrites. Many young people recognize that 'church' is boring and it seems irrelevant and intangible, so they decide to leave once they have the independence to do so. There is a large portion of people that go to 'church' because they feel guilty. They think it is the 'right thing to do', or that God will surely look at them differently if they enter into this religious practice. This mindset is so far from actually understanding the Gospel and the church that I don't even really want to expound on it.
Church is translated from a word in Greek that is found only a couple times in scripture. We will look at the one instance where Jesus uses it.
"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' Andy they said, 'Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it (Matthew 16:13-18)."
Let's pick this passage apart for a while. Jesus asks the disciples who people say that 'the son of man' is. He assumes that very same title, by asking the disciples, 'but who do you say that I am.' Peter is given a revelation from Father God Himself, about the nature of Jesus, the nature of the son of man. He recognizes Jesus' true identity, of being the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Now this truth that Peter came to, got Jesus' attention, for it was different than what everyone else was saying. He blesses Peter by first calling out his name, Petros; which in Greek means 'a detached rock or boulder.' He then goes on to say that on this rock, petra: which means 'a solid or native rock, rising up from the earth', he will build his church.
Now the Catholic church has taken this passage to mean that Peter was the first pope, and that Jesus was instituting Peter to lead the church. Although Peter was one of the first to come to a revelation of this truth, and perhaps the first person to become a part of the 'church, I do not think this interpretation does the passage justice. The emphasis here is on the different Greek words for rock. Petra, rather than referring to Peter himself, is more likely referring to the revelation that Jesus is the Christ. Petros is just a part of the whole (petra).
The word church, is translated from Ekklesia, which was a word used in the Roman government to describe a ruling assembly. The word means 'out from and to', so a group of people that have been separated for a purpose. So now for our definition of the church. "The church is the group of people that are set apart from others by the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
Now the next question is, what does it mean to 'know that Jesus is the Christ.' What does that entail? Is it who He is? Or what He has done. Did he save us or will he 'if we believe in Him'? But does not believing in Him mean that we understand what He has already done for us? Is this knowledge primarily intellectual, or is it emotional, experiential? These questions have separated Christians since the early church; and how we can have confidence that one person or another actually has a true revelation of Christ I don't know. Do I even know what Christ has done for me, do you really know who He is? That not being the purpose of this particular scripture passage, or that important in my opinion, it will suffice to say that this revelation seems to be the necessary factor for one being a part of the 'church'.
So here we have person A who has come to the 'secret' knowledge of who Christ is and what He has done. Now for all of us, we can maybe point to a time in our lives when we happened upon this tidbit of information. It may have been quite an exciting time! "Holy crap God is real!" "He loves me, and saved me!" "I am forgiven and no longer feel guilt and shame from the past!" "I just got taken up into 3rd heaven and saw angels!" "I feel good, at peace, at rest." "I now know that I can face these struggles in my life because I have someone facing them with me." Whatever the experience that person A may have had, lets just assume that it would be dynamic since Jesus goes so far as to say we become completely 'new creatures', maybe not dynamic experientially, but we will be satisfied with a dynamic objective change (2 Cor. 5:17).
How much transformation needs to be evident in a person's life for us to have confidence in their faith? Frankly I don't think it matters that much, and I don't think that is our job; but that question causes quite a conundrum for believers all over the world and it drives us to control and regulate our lives with God.
Scenario: The Simple Church
Person A meets Person B who also 'knows Jesus' (whatever that really means). They now have the most intimate connection any 2 people can have, the shared knowledge of Jesus Himself. Chances are they will want to spend time together, since no one else seems to get the fact that Jesus came to save them. They just have so much to share, so much in common, so much to discover together! So Person A and Person B start spending time together, they genuinely express to themselves how awesome God is, and they tell God how awesome He is too (worship). Since they know that Jesus connected them to the Father (John 14:7), they start talking to Him, asking Him questions and making requests from Him; both for themselves and for each other (prayer).
There you have it, the church! It is simple and real. The people are just naturally engaging out of what they know and experience. Of course in our day it is far more complicated than that. We are real people after all! Thousands of theological understandings, the reality that people can still be self-centered, and the fact that there is enormous pressure to have 'right thinking' and 'right practice', transforms a simple expression of genuine thought and emotion into a complex system of what is right and wrong. Theology is important, and I understand why and how we have made this 'Christian thing' so complex, but this helps us simplify our understanding of church and sheds light onto how it became what it is today. On with the scenario!
So soon the new church becomes muddled with worry and fear, with insecurity and guilt. Person A doesn't think Person B really understands Jesus because he surely wouldn't complain about Person C who also started hanging out with them. Meanwhile Person C feels completely inferior to Person A and B because they keep claiming that they have a truer and more whole understanding of Jesus.
Person D comes along from a different community that she left because she felt like 'her leadership gifts' weren't being used, and tells everyone that if they really want to 'know Jesus' they should try and worship more. Soon everyone falls into the religious rigmarole of trying to be better, to do things differently or exactly the same, and they forget their simple beginnings. They forget to rely on the person of God himself, they forget the joy of knowing and resting in who Jesus is and what He has done. They feel bound up by expectation, they fear the opinions of others, and now feel pretty inadequate before God. Oh the difficulties of an imperfect world!
Worship and prayer become practice that Christians 'should' participate in rather than them being natural responses from present experiences. Religion takes over and we feel obligated to do certain things, ro feel certain ways, and even to speak certain words. Freedom that Christ promises becomes bondage to religious practices and principles. Person Q, R, and S (the younger generation), look at what they are 'told they have to do', but don't actually have the genuine encounters and revelation themselves, so they reject the package that Christ supposedly comes in. A, B, and C become really worried because the good 'church' kids became rebels later in life. They didn't realize that 'church' is not a good substitute for Jesus himself; and although they had good intentions to help their children be 'good eggs', they did a greater disservice by undermining the work of Christ by worshiping a form of Godliness rather than God himself.
Church is the natural byproduct of a true revelation of Jesus, it the simple and genuine interaction between people who have come to the same conclusion about who Christ is. Much simpler said than done obviously. Worship and Prayer are also meant to be simple, real, genuine ways we talk to and relate with God, but because of our religious heritage and our 'churchiness' they become obligatory practices that are muddled with all the manner of insecurity and mis-understanding. Religion causes us to want to produce things in ourselves or in others that aren't being produced naturally. We fall under guilty compulsion to love God because we know we 'should' love God. We create a system out of prayer, not just for practical efficiency, but because we actually have very little desire talk to God on our own. We know certain thoughts, practices, and feelings are 'good' to have, so we try to make them happen, or even worse we fake it.
What is the solution? Well I don't really know. I have some ideas, but for now let's just get real and be honest. We can admit that we don't really know what we are doing, and that we have climbed the ladder of religion that leads to nowhere in at least some area of our lives.
I am tired of jumping through religious hoops, of doing something just for the sake of it being a 'good idea'. I am frustrated with our inability to honestly address insecurity, fallibility, and even doubt. I am tired of caring more what other people think than what God thinks. I am tired of honoring a system and a form while missing out on the tangible reality of God Himself. I am sick of moral compromise and the love of religion. Are you?
The church is supposed to be the most dynamic community this world has ever seen. The way we relate with each other, how we handle difficulty and struggle, our patience, love, and joy! Not to mention the demonstration of His power that scripture associates with the 'people of God'. Regardless of all our inadequacies and failures, we have a lot of good going for us too. The Holy Spirit is faithfully moving and working as He always has and will do, millions of people in the world have been touched and changed by Jesus, and the church is the light of the world; but lets give the Spirit as much space as possible because we haven't even gotten close to our potential. Lets learn to expect His involvement and stop 'doing church' because it is comfortable and safe. Let us dig deep until our interactions with each other and with God are no longer soiled by obligation, guilt, fear, or religious duty, but until they are true, honest, real, and tangible!
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