I'm THAT guy…

I’m THAT guy…

sigh.
I don’t want to be THAT guy, but I have to walk in these shoes I’m wearing right now. It’s a drag, but it’s not the end of the world. What am I talking about? I’m talking about religion. I’m talking about church.

If you know me well, you might know that I love to talk about God. One of the things I love (besides the Person of God, His grace and numerous other subjects) is His bride – the church. I’m pretty much Joe when it comes to church. I’m not a big fan of church hopping and church shopping. In fact, if you come to me to tell me that you’re leaving your home church, I might say something like, “Dude, the church is organic. It’s family. You can’t just leave when you feel like it. It’s like tearing apart a family.”

I feel like church is a family. It’s not about me. It’s not about what I can get out of it. In fact, it’s more about what I can put into it than it’s what I can get out of it. I firmly believe that with even the minimal participation and little service of just attending and being there is a gift and a service to others. That’s a bit of a stretch, I realize, but I think that my presence on the pew or chair next to someone else might be a minor amount of encouragement for my brother or sister in Christ. When they see me (or anyone else they know) sitting next to them, maybe it encourages them in just a slight way, like, ‘They haven’t given up. Maybe I can keep hoping for now…’ You never know what people might think or how you might help people without even trying.

And now I’m that guy. I’m looking for a church. I’m leaving what’s been my home church for 11 years. One of the worst things about it is having to be in “a place” that I’m not a big fan of. I’m sure we’ll find a new church home soon. We’ve visited a couple of local churches. We dig Austin Stone. The leadership there seems to have their heads screwed on right. I mean, seriously. The things I hear them talk about and the things that people that go there are saying is profound, solid stuff. They have a real vision for the city and they see church as not just being a Bible study. If I can remember correctly from the sermon two weeks ago, “Church is about worshiping God. Church is about being missional and…” I’m forgetting one of the three points. Here they are: “Church is ministering to God, ministering to believers and ministering to non-believers.” Good stuff.

I like the model for church in the book of Acts. It’s the home church model. They met from house to house. This kind of church can grow and never need a building program (to kill it, which so often happens, but I digress). When a home church gets too crowded, it can multiply and form two groups. Then when those grow, the same thing happens and so on and so on. This is what has happened with the church in China.

Shhhh. Don’t tell the wicked, evil leaders in control in China about this. They will want to squash, harrass, arrest and kill the believers spreading Christianity in their Communist country. And, you know what? I’m not kidding.

Anyway, I love small bodies, like mid-week “small groups” that meet together. A lot of churches have these and they meet and discuss the sermon and pray together, break bread together and fellowship. This, I believe, is where “real church” happens. Let’s say you are struggling. You lost your job. You lost your boyfriend. You lost your hope, whatever. You’re not likely to get “ministry” from the big congregational meeting on Sunday morning inside the sanctuary. Sure, the pastor might share the Word of God and it speaks to you and “ministers” to your heart. Yes, that’s real. But practical ministry… The laying on of hands for healing prayer, giving you a Walmart gift card to buy groceries or cutting a check for the electric bill, etc… This stuff can happen in a small group of people that know you. They’ll know better how to minister to you (and pray with you) than the pastor that spoke on stage for 25 to 45 minutes. The connection between the congregation member and the guy on stage is “artificial” in my opinion. There’s not a real bond there. The bonding can happen in small groups, though, where you share with each other.

So, as you can see, I’m Joe Church.

This is why it’s difficult to be that guy that leaves one body.

“Why are you leaving, Doug?” Well, my oldest kid is not getting fed and ministered to in the youth group there. “Why don’t you get involved and be a part of the solution?” That’s the first thing I thought of, but this isn’t going to work in this situation. Serving the youth group leaders isn’t going to resolve the situation for my kid. So, we’re looking for a church where they will get the ministry we think they need. We’re gonna graze somewhere else now (to use the shepherding, which is what a parent should do, metaphor).

The “difficulty” I talk about, though, is just mostly of that superficial “what will people think?” variety. It doesn’t matter what other people think when it comes to the health of my children. It way pales in comparison. The other “difficulty” is just having to wrestle with my theories and convictions in my head with my actions.

I talked with my pastor about this and, while it breaks his heart also, he understands where I’m coming from as a dad. Being a parent is a very real and serious obligation and if we’re going to lead them, sometimes it will mean change.

Maybe one of the good things that will come out of this uprooting and replanting will be a re-connection with the body of Christ at large.

One thing I strongly believe (as if I haven’t shared enough convictions about the church already) is that the body of Christ is universal. The body of Christ is all believers in Jesus – all over the world. That means Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal, non-denominational, etc. We’re all part of the body of Christ when we believe in Him. “By one Spirit we were all baptized into the body of Christ,” Scripture says. Getting out from behind one set of four walls is healthy. I recommend being attached to and committed to one local body. That way you can know and be known. Flitting around like a butterfly robs you and others of true, substantial connections, but once or twice a year (or maybe just a nighttime service somewhere else) offers you a great perspective on this universal body of Christ idea. Going through this church search offers a fresh perspective of all that.

We plan on visiting Hope Chapel this weekend. I have long thought very highly of this church. No one church is perfect. Everyone knows that. This one isn’t perfect, but what I love about it is the “citywide body of Christ” attitude they keep and foster there. Unity in the body of Christ exudes their expression, their teaching and their actions. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that. Their founding pastor, Dan Davis, is like a father figure to pastors in the city of Austin. I doubt he has ever accepted the label “apostle,” but I think he apostles the church in this area.

See how I’ve used the word “apostle” as a verb? In the book of Ephesians, where it talks about the “five-fold ministry” of apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists, all four of the less-controversial positions can easily be used as a verb. A teacher teaches. An evangelist evangelizes. A pastor pastors. A prophet prophesies. What does an apostle do? Judging by my understanding of Scripture, he leads a region of believers and has a keen sense of church government. This is what the church needs. In the first century church (between 33 AD and 70 AD, which is obviously when the vast majority of the New Testament was written**) Paul was very effective at clearing up messes and directing the church in how it should govern itself, etc. John and Peter were very effective at this, too.

Dan Davis is one of those wise men who talks slowly and listens attentively. He has probably overseen many a problem in this city, helping bring resolution and peace between conflicted parties, etc. For 13 years I was part of a church plant from Hope Chapel. It was called Mission Hills. That church merged with another at the end of that time, lots of people left, we moved North from Austin to Hutto and then we joined our last church and stayed there 11 years. When we had a Mission Hills reunion in January of 2009, one thing my wife remarked upon was wondering if we were doing our kids a disservice by not surrounding them with believers that had testimony of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. This was a constant refrain we heard when all the folks from the old congregation stood up and shared what was going on in their lives. I see her point. Walking with and being “family” with someone who trusts in, clings to and relies on God and sees Him come through in a miraculous and “alive in the 21st century” way is a wonderful thing to model and be encouraged by. I hope our kids can get that experience.***

Not sure where we’ll end up, but I’ll share here on this blog for those that are curious.

**If the New Testament was really written after 70 AD, like so many non-believing critics allege, then where is the information and details of the ransacking and destruction of Jerusalem that happened in 70 AD? Are you really trying to tell me that a moment so central and crucial to that community’s life would go unmentioned in a collection of books that share tons of minute details (like shipping passages, seasonal changes and street addresses, for crying out loud)? I think not. That would be like writing a history of the activity of people in Manhattan now and not referencing the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. You just wouldn’t leave that out, would you? This is a great argument for the New Testament dating process.

***Is that an indictment against the old church? Not even close to being a driving force to our present decision. It was just a thought … and now we might have a chance to do something about that thought/wonderment. (Having *** disclaimers can stink up a communication, huh?)