A Place To Belong

One of the joys of being on holidays is the opportunity to worship at other churches as a participant rather than a leader.  I love the local church and enjoy the diversity of the body of Christ while engaging in a variety of expressions of worship.  It also enables me to experience church as a visitor, reminding me what it feels like to enter into an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people.  As a church leader I cannot help but to evaluate the experience, not to be critical of the church we visit, but to assess what it feels like to be an outsider.

Over the past two weeks we attended two very different churches and had two very different experiences.  Both churches offered God-glorifying worship and sound biblical preaching, despite their different styles and theological emphasis.  The difference for us was in how we were greeted and made to feel welcome before and after the service.  

One church had a very welcoming foyer that led into a cafe area with a team of greeters who went out of their way to introduce themselves to us and ensure we were comfortable and found somewhere to sit.  Congregation members who saw that we were visitors got out of their seats to greet us and welcome us to their church.  It was clear by our reception and the atmosphere in the church that visitors were expected and valued.

When we arrived at the other church we walked straight pass two greeters at the front doors who were preoccupied with other things and we stood in the foyer for a few minutes by ourselves to work out where to sit.  Several people walked past us, yet nobody stopped to say hello.  When we found a seat at the back of the church the only interaction with us was from an older man turning around to express his disapproval of my son wearing a hat in church and a polite good morning from a lady excusing herself as she shuffled past us to her seat.

Despite these different experiences we valued the opportunity just to be worshippers instead of worship leaders outside of our usual church setting.  

Far from wanting to be unfairly critical of other churches, this reflection causes me to look critically at how well our church is doing to ensure we provide a welcoming environment where visitors and people searching for a church home have a life changing encounter with God through the body of Christ.  It is so easy to forget what it feels like to walk into a church for the first time and to be so comfortable with the familiar that we are unaware the church is foreign for many.  Stepping into a foreign social or spiritual environment on occasions allows us to remember the feeling of being out of place and to respond by creating a place where people can truly belong.

Keep In Step With The Spirit

  

"If you place 32 metronomes on a static object and set them rocking out of phase with one another, they will remain that way indefinitely. Place them on a moveable surface, however, and something very interesting (and very mesmerizing) happens."

A friend of mine posted this amazing link on Facebook and I couldn't help seeing beyond the physics of this demonstration and connecting it to a spiritual principle that is at work in the church.

When Christians who are living out of step with the Spirit gather together, they resemble the metronomes on a static object, in that there is discord and disunity amongst believers who live according to their own desires.  In this static, immoveable environment where the status quo is unchallenged and there is nothing to facilitate a change of momentum, there will never be unity in the church. 

In direct contrast, when Christians who are living in step with the Spirit gather together in a dynamic environment where the movement of the Spirit brings the heart and minds of believers into alignment, the church moves in unison with each other.  Like the metronomes moving in perfect harmony, a church moving with the Spirit generates a spiritual momentum and power that transfers to anyone sharing the same space.

I strangely found watching the metronomes coming into alignment an exciting representation of the potential energy and power of a church that moves in step with the Spirit!  The Apostle Paul understood this when he wrote to the churches, urging the believers to keep in step with the Spirit:

"Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Romans 8:5)

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:3-6) 

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want...Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:16-26)

Just as the "energy from the motion of one ticking metronome can affect the motion of every metronome around it," the motion of Holy Spirit in the life of one believer can effect the motion of every other believer in proximity.  Imagine the impact of the collective motion of an entire church that is keeping in step with the Spirit can have on other churches...the whole community...a nation...or even the world!!

Friend Of Every Party

Tonight, as Australians ponder the result of this election and the future for our nation under new leadership, I feel the words of Salvation Army founder William Booth in his final speech are apt for such a moment: "I might have tried to improve society by devoting myself to politics. But I saw something better than belonging to any Party - that by being the friend of every Party I was more likely to secure the blessing of the multitude, and the end I had in view."

Christians right across Australia have voiced a variety of political views throughout this election campaign and have expressed deep concern about policies from both major parties that challenge our spiritual and social sensibilities.  Regardless of how we might individually feel about the result of Election 2013, I believe the Church has a prophetic responsibility to embrace the spirit of Booth's political statement in his final speech, and commit ourselves to working alongside every elected member of parliament, despite their political alliance, to advance God's mission for the body of Christ.

Our political preferences need to be subordinate to our spiritual values, social conscience and Scriptural mandate as we engage with the elected political leaders of our nation.  The challenge is ours, as those who are elected and called by God, to build relationships with those who have been elected by the people, so we may be a powerful witness through a godly influence and prophetic voice.

As the People of God, we need to pursue our passion for the LORD with every Party...

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  (Luke 10:27)

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  (Romans 12:1-2)

As the People of God, we need to pursue our passion for the LOST with every Party...

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20)

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  (Luke 19:10)

As the People of God, we need to pursue our passion for LIFE with every Party...

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalm 82:3-4)                          

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." (Isaiah 1:17)

As the People of God, we need to pursue our passion for LEADERSHIP with every Party...

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  (1 Timothy 2:1-4)