What I think church should not be

Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 2:07pm |
You ever wonder the purpose of the church. I have been in some great conversation with my brother on this very matter. I tell you that delving into this question both in the word, in prayer and in my own thoughts has surfaced a lot of stuff. The top thing I am thinking is a corporate opportunity to praise God. God is ALWAYS worthy to be praised. If you think about it, His awesomeness goes beyond comprehension and measure. So we could praise Him our entire lives and never praise Him for all He is or all He does. Church is an opportunity to be examined by the WORD. As the word is spoken by an annointed, chosen man of God who is filled with the Holy Spirit, the word will pierce our hearts, bring about conviction and repentance. I believe it is a time to be built up and encouraged by other believers as well as correction. It is a time of fellowship with other believers and a time to serve one another. We can pour into others lives at this time. We should be spurring one another on to good works and encourage each other to live filled with the spirit. I am open to a discussion on this point. You can add to this or even dissect it. I am by no means an expert. Just someone trying to process this issue. However, not wanting to divide and debate. Just wanted to start a dialogue of thoughts.

I guess on the flip side of this issue (all prompted by listening to CS Lewis' Mere Christianity") is the thoughts of what church is not. It is not a country club. It is not a place to go once a week to meet with God so you can feel better the rest of the week. It is not a place to go to mark off a list saying I did this. It is not a dumping ground to confess our sin so we can make room for the sins again this week. It is not a place to go to feel better about yourself because you see others in worse shape than you. It is also not a place to go only if you are perfect. So brings me full circle. What is the purpose of church. I believe if the church were operating in its full capacity, we would be a light to a lost world, we would be the GLORY of God here on earth. How about them apples. I started out talking about what the church isn't and ended up back at its purpose. I can stop now. Join me in this discussion if you want.