Every church, family,
institution, nation, individual has rituals or events or habits that they like
to do. Some are crazy about it, demanding that every year at a specific time we
char animal flesh for eating, pour libations (and drink them), and shoot
rockets into the sky to remind ourselves that we no longer have to pay the
King’s taxes. Hooray?
Churches have ruts and rituals
and habits that to the outsider may seem just as odd. We cook our beans, we
have the children wear sheep-skin, we gather around an altar of covered dishes,
we sing outdated songs, or we hang gaudy decorations because … well do we
really know why?
What often happens is we start
to worship the idea that may or may not surround the habit, the myth of the
ritual and forget why it is that we gather in the first place. That is when the
rut is dug.
So, remember what it means to
be a church. For us Baptist and other Free Church folks, perhaps being a church
means being gathered in the name of Christ. In other words, wherever two or
three are gathered in Christ’s name, there is the church. We are gathered to
proclaim, to share, and to grow in the name of Christ. This should be the
foundation for all that we do as a church.
So look at what it is that you
do. Take a close and careful look and ask yourself if you are gathering to
proclaim Christ.
This is not an easy thing to
do. Sometimes we like to just get together and have fun. Yet I contend that we
do this more often than not and miss an awareness of the presence of Christ.
I’m not saying everything has to have a dour, serious aspect to it. We only
need to keep our awareness on that greater thing.
If you can’t find a
justification in what you do that is grounded in Christ, then maybe it is time
to stop doing what you are doing. Lets be honest, no one has time to do
everything, and churches seem to have an identity problem, so maybe it is good
to cut the fat and stick to the meat of the gospel.
All this talk of meat and
grilling is making me hungry…
Railage:
Wow! Who would have thought
that Jonathan could actually get so angry about something? Those who cannot see
humanity, and dare we suggest the image of God, in especially those who have
done the worst maybe should reconsider their pronouncements of faith.
Charley is angry about people
making judgments for you. Decide for yourself. That is unless it is something
we suggest, then just go with what we say.
A Liturgical Exegesis
Romans 8:26
“Likewise the Spirit helps us
in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very
Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”
need we say more?
Watcha Into?
Charley wants you to have dinner
with a friend. A real, actually dinner, not some virtual thing, but something
where you can see and touch the other person (in an appropriate way). If you do
not get food on your face from the other person talking while eating, then you
are not having a real dinner. Hmmm, maybe I’m not so hungry any more…
Jonathan likes listening to
Gardner Taylor, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, and taking long walks in the
library stacks.
He just finished reading In Cold Blood, the uplifting story of a
woman who overcomes the odds to show that she can have a job and a family and
still have a sense of … wait…. I don’t think that is right at all (here is his blog post about the book)
Next week: Don’t be a super-pastor or a super-Christian or super at all
(i.e. how to be present without overdoing it)
Go Team
Android! Go Team Data!
