A Journey Started...

If there is one thing that I have learned over the years about Christian thought and life, it’s that there are many differing viewpoints about what scripture has to say. I believe that there are many divergent thoughts in the Christian world for one particular reason, that God has chosen to work with and through His people. That means our understanding of what He has to say is inherently fallible and lacking. Yes, He made us in His image and gave us a wonderful mind with which to opine and declare truth as we see it but... there’s always a “but.” (I once heard a sermon on “God’s But” that was meant to shock and teach. I guess it made an impression on me because I remember it.) We don’t really KNOW, we just think we do. The danger lies in standing on our interpretation as truth when it’s only our arrogance and pride that insists that we really know anything at all.

This past year plus has been a time of enlightenment for me. We left the church we were a part of since moving to our present home in 1995 and we heard that a pastor from a previous church fell. He had been living a double life! This pastor was one of the men who taught us many of the foundational points of our beliefs. Leaving our church was a huge decision for us and seeing that other man fall into sin was potentially earthshaking. The ramifications of the two events though have been quite different than what I expected. I expected to feel (perceive somehow) as though we would need to find and join a new church body as soon as possible in order to remain in God’s grace. I expected to search out and find a new church family that we could really connect with and become one with. In other words, I expected things to go on as they were before! Just in a different place.

Instead, life has worked differently than I’d expected. Surprise! I found that I really had no desire to join another group right away. I found that I was changing the way I was thinking about Christian life. I found that.... maybe I didn’t know as much as I thought I did!

I’ve felt a freedom to live and experience life in a way that in the past I was just too hung up on right and wrong as I dogmatically understood it- to do before. Now, that doesn’t mean I took God’s grace and used it as license to just go out and sin, no! That would be blatantly contrary to scripture (Romans 6:1-7). What I’ve been doing is examining every one of my judgments and thoughts that Holy Spirit has brought to my attention and asking myself, “why do I believe this? Is it truth? Is it dogma?” It’s a liberating experience when you are able to think this way and it only happens if/when a person finds himself in a position where he no longer understands where some of the ‘stuff’ he’s been taught comes from.

Just how does a person find himself in a position like this? I mean, for years I was uber-involved in church. I loved doing whatever I could to facilitate services. My wife and I have worked with children, youth, lay-counseling and more, I’ve been part of music ministry in more than one church, was a deacon for a few years, I even served on the board of elders at churches in North and South Dakota. It’s a hard question to answer and I’m not going to throw any stones here because they would be just as likely to come right back at me as hit what I was aiming at. Simply finding ourselves at odds with the doctrine being taught where we were previously very comfortable, forced introspective thought. Then, when we heard that the pastor from that other church we had been a part of was living a double life, well- introspection became a way of life in a big hurry!

I have learned to really think about what I believe and in the process I found that much of what I believed was not as scripturally grounded as I’d thought. I also found that I really believed some things that I would have denied believing had someone called me on them. One example is that I learned that I actually believed in church services. I know, it sounds silly. Church services are just a time and a place for people to come together and worship, whether it be in song, study, preaching or whatever. Somehow though a belief that a church service is really an important thing in and of itself crept into my belief systems. The truth is that the service isn’t important, the people are and God is!

Believing in church services has caused turmoil and strife for 19 centuries now. Whole people groups have “chosen sides” based on whether they believe in one denomination’s way of holding a service and having church structure or not. People, the real important part of the service, were being killed because they disagreed with others. My belief in church services was different than that but still wrong. It was more of a belief that the style of the service really matters. The truth is that the service is more a reflection of the hearts and minds of those who attend than the other way around. We can be in obedience to God’s directive to “not abstain from gathering together” by just being together, being a part one of another, even in a social setting. Sometimes the “gathering together” is even unintentional in that there was no preconceived notion of having a Christian gathering. Is this different than going to church?

Yes. It is different. It is different in that there is no structure for the most part. It is different because there isn’t a formal time of teaching or singing worship. It’s different. The real question though, is whether Gods directive that we not forsake the gathering must be interpreted as meaning getting together for a formal church service or not. I believe it does not mean that. I believe that God’s directive that we not forsake the gathering together of the saints should be more loosely interpreted, meaning that there are times when simply getting together with other Christians is enough. I also believe though that church services have a place in the Kingdom of God. We need to learn and we need to worship together! Social gatherings are clearly not enough. It takes a healthy balance of both in order to remain strong .

The definition of a church service is something that will likely be debated until the Second Coming so I won’t go there at this point. Merely thinking about what we do and why we do it is what really matters. My favorite song says it well:

“The Heart of Worship”
By Matt Redman

Verse 1:
When the music fades, all is stripped away and I simply come,
Longing just to bring something that’s of worth, that will bless Your heart.

I’ll bring You more than a song
for a song in itself
is not what you have required.
You search much deeper within
through the way things appear,
You’re looking into My heart.

Chorus:
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.

Verse 2:
King of endless worth, no one could express, how much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor, all I have is yours, every single breath.

Chorus:

So, I intend to continue searching out the truth in what I believe, and I believe that the Word promises me that in that search He is active and since he started that work in me, he will be faithful to complete it.” (Philippians1:6)

JustBob