Experience Can Ruin Your Perspective

The other day I asked my 2 year old daughter, "Do you know what daddy does for work?" She thought intently for a moment and then with a 'eureka-type' expression blurted, "You go to the church building!"(she loves the church building because of the toys in the nursery) "That's right" I said. "And what does daddy do there?" She replied, "You play!"

I was devastated. All my daughter thinks I do all day is play. But then it occured to me that in her world, that's what the church building is all about - playing. There's no corporate worship, there is no preaching of the gospel, there is no fellowship, there is no counseling, no administration, no serving, no prayer - there's only playing. Why else would you go to the church building? And then it occured to me that her experience had completely shaped her perspective. And her perspective shaped her view of me and the Church.

I wonder what your perspective is of the Church? How has your experience shaped that perspective? Is Church a once a week gathering or a vibrant 24/7 community? Is it irrelevant to daily life or is it the hope of the world?

I have found that our experience can ruin our perspective and can be very dangerous to how we live in the present and hope for the future. You see, experience is often contradictory to the Word of God. For example, we can receive prayer for our sickness and not get healed and have that experience shape our view on whether or not God heals. Or we can look at the Church and see where it has let people down and has let you down and that experience can ruin your perspective of the Church. The Bible says that the Church is the precious bride of Christ. The Bible says that the Church is God's one and only plan to administer and proclaim the message of salvation. God has high hopes for the Church. How can we disregard the Church knowing God feels that way? Well, we've had some bad experiences. But my prayer is that we don't allow our experience to fog our view of truth. May we learn through the power of the Holy Spirit to allow God's word to shape our perspective more than our experiences.

The Church Being the Church

The primary function of the church is to be a visible display of God's wisdom (Eph 3). A place where different people of different backgrounds and preferences love each other, serve one another and partner together to finish what Jesus started.

Most people can point out when the church seems anything like God's wisdom on display, but I want to tell you about someone at Jubilee who I think demonstrated why the church is a great place to be.

I recently heard of one of our single women gather together a bunch of moms and their toddlers for a brunch and toy giveaway. Seems like a simple thing, but let me tell you why it was a great thing. 1) It was unselfish. She put something together that wasn't intended to serve her, but served those she invited. She doesn't have kids. She's not a mother, but she wanted to serve them and build friendship regardless. 2) It was inclusive. It wasn't just her close circle of friends. There were people there that are close friends of hers, but there were also people she barely knew (not for long). 3) It was not initiated by the elders. For the church to do something, it doesn't have to happen in our four walls nor does it have to be leadership initiated.

This is not the only example floating around out there. Several others are taking an active interest to build into one another lives with a serving a loving attitude. Way to go church!

Community Anyone?

We are lonely people. We feel it all the time. We feel it when we come home at night and the phone doesn't ring. We feel it when sadness kicks in and no one seems to care. We feel it when we are still at the office at 9 pm. We feel it when we go to bed alone. It's not that we don't try to relate to others, but that doesn't seem to satisfy us. We get disappointed when people don't meet all our needs (even though they were never meant to - that's God's job). The problem is we really don't understand what community is and what it takes to have it. It's a buzz word these days, but the reality of community seems to elude us. We need to get a grip on what community really is.

Community flows out of who God is.

The Father, Son and Spirit live in perfect relationship while on mission together (mission is important to experiencing authentic community). So if you want to tap into community the way it was meant to be experienced, get close to God. Repent (right now) of the sin that stands in the way of you relating to God. If you are experiencing loneliness, I'll bet anything your walk with God is less than stellar.

Here's some more about community that I borrowed from a friend:

Community is experiencing Christ through one another.

Community is knowing and being known, serving and being served, celebrating and being celebrated. Community is hanging out with Christian friends and laughing about stupid things. Community is gradually opening up our true selves to people and letting them see who we really are. Community is telling each other the truth in love.

Community is not just being "nice."

True community involves being in a bad mood and still being pleasant to others. Community means asking for help. To be in community means to be in need. To feel other peoples' pain, that's community. To think more about what others need, that's community. Community involves crying and looking foolish in front of others. To be in community means to be uncomfortable at times. Community involves risking our image. Community is not just eating together. Community is not seeing people at church. Community is not saying, "Fine" when asked how you are doing. To be in community involves using your phone a lot.

To experience community is to arrange one's life in such a way that fellow members of the church are seen not as a burden to deal with, but friends with which to do life.

Community is seeing church as a family to belong to, not a service to go to. Community involves simplifying one's lifestyle in order to welcome others.

Community means sacrificing time and money for those who need either. To listen more than you talk is community. To work out all conflicts and never hold grudges is community. Community is the way of Jesus who related to and lived with twelve very imperfect men when he could have accomplished his mission and lived his life without them. Jesus showed us how to do community by who he was and how he lived.

Let's be a church that just doesn't have the word community listed in our brochures and website. Let's be a church that experiences authentic community and models it to the world around us.

Bryan