Eating Together

In John Alexander's book, Stop Going to Church and Become the Church (I'm not sure if that's still the title of the book, but that's what it was a dozen years ago when I first got a manuscript copy.), John lists some touch points for determining if the church you're a part of is one with a predominantly entertainment model (the congregation attends Sunday morning services and mostly just sits and watches while paid staff perform for the bulk of the event) or closer to a body model (in which members are actively involved regularly (and not just on Sundays) in each other's lives). One such touch stone that he lists is the amount that the church eats together. He says:

"How much do folks eat together in your church? I suspect that frequency of eating together is one of the best indicators of the health of a biological family. And I wonder if that's not equally true of church families."

Our church has monthly potlucks in which we all stay after the Sunday morning service and eat together. We often have at least one BBQ a month in the summer. And the pastor's family often invites people over to their house for a meal. I suspect that if we tried to get together any more than that, it wouldn't work. People in our little congregation tend to be too busy for much more than that. (We do have meetings that don't involve food. So it's not like we only see each other on Sundays. I'm just saying that adding in yet another gathering time probably isn't realistic at this point.)

John spends a fair bit of time in his book talking about where people spend their time -- how much of it is spent being a church vs. other activities. I think time spent together is a problem that our church is struggling with these days. When we first joined the congregation almost 9 years ago, it seemed that people traveled less and gathered together more. I don't think anyone in the congregation would be opposed to the idea of getting together more often. But practically speaking, I'm not sure how it could come about right now without it being forced.

I think that taking a specific, eating together, and using that as a measuring stick of sorts regarding the health of a church is an interesting idea. What do you think? How often does your church eat together (either in small groups or as an entire body)? Do you feel that the time spent together helps to grow and build the church?

It strikes me that some churches measure how well they're doing based on how many people attend the Sunday morning services. I wonder how well those same churches would fare if the criteria was how often they eat together rather than how many people are sitting in the pews?

Unity

"Most of us are in unity with no one but ourselves." -- John Alexander

How being a church is like playing baseball

More quotes from John Alexander's book:

"Church is a full-time occupation, not the weekly attendance of a performance. Church isn't the sort of thing you can go to. You can be the church, you can become the church, you can even do church, but you can't go to church. ... One way of saying it is that church is the sort of thing that you become part of. You're the church whenever you're with other Christians in such a way that you depend on each other, love each other, serve each other, and speak the truth to each other in love for the sake of Jesus." 

"Our task is to find ways to become the church together. I suggest that becoming the church is rather like becoming a baseball team. Players have to practice together enough to learn each others strengths and weaknesses. Then they can use each others strengths and play around each others weaknesses.  They sort out who can pitch, who can field, who can bat, who can coach. In the process, they learn to rely on each other, team sprit 'arises,' and somewhere along the way, rather mysteriously, they cease being just a collection of individuals and a group identity appears. They become a team. They become the Cubs." (lol! Sounds like John is channeling Bob Appleby here, except that I suspect he was already doing the sports metaphors before he met Bob. Those two were like two peas in a pod.)

He then goes on to explain that he's not talking about just making Sunday morning services more participatory. He says, " Services are important, but church is mostly crying with your brother in Christ when he learns that his son is disabled. Or helping your sister paint her house while talking together about the way, the truth, and the life."

John makes three points about what he calls "reinventing church":

1) Church is something you do or become or be, not something you go to.

2) It's crucial to identify people's strengths and weaknesses within the body and then each person should play their position -- do what they're good at. 

3) "God intends us to be part of team, part of a body." 

4) "In neither baseball nor church is a building crucial.

To sum up, "In both [baseball and being a church], it's more of a process than an event. In both, it's a matter of spirit. In both, the way it happens is rather mysterious. In both, coaching is crucial. In both, not recognizing your need for others is disastrous. In both, there's a place for observing, but it's for people not on the team, for nonChristians, for outsiders."

Convenience

"What is truly convenient? And who is it convenient for? And let’s remember that for all our conveniences there is someone or some place on the other end that may not find it convenient at all." -- Tracy Bianchi, from an article entitled Convenience and its Consequences

The Damage You Do

While reading John Alexander's book, I came across a note that I had written in the margin that said to "see notebook". So I pulled out my old notebook from that time period ('97-'98) and flipped through it looking for any comments I might have written. I'm not sure that I've found what I'm looking for yet, but in the meantime I came across a poem that reminded me of Meirav's recent ramblings on ketchup-removal.

The context of the poem was that someone I was rather close to was furiously, horribly, intensely upset with someone else. 

The Damage You Do

I'm not saying that I don't have blind spots, too.
I just want to express
 (to cry out before it devours you)
 that I see one of yours.
And I wouldn't bring it up,
  I wouldn't mention it
 except I see what it does to you
  and what it's doing to others.
And it makes me so incredibly sad
  so mortified that this has come to pass
that I want to come at you
  screaming
  and railing
  and pounding you
  ...until you see.
But screaming, railing & pounding
  only make the turtle
  disappear behind his armor.
So I know I must become gentle
  and patient, 
  an apt teacher. 
I need to mirror you to yourself
  in such a way
  that you will see with your own eyes
  the damage you do.
And I need to plead before God
  that he will unshutter your eyes
  and melt your heart
  and teach you once again
   of the depth and form of his forgiveness,
enabling you to forgive.

Truth or Lies - Where do our words come from?

I just started a book called War of Words, by Paul David Tripp. The gals in our church agreed to read it this summer and get together now and again to discuss it. Our first meeting is tomorrow morning, so I figured it was time to get reading.  

To be honest, I'm struggling with it, so far. (I'm only in the second chapter.) I'm not struggling with what he's saying so much as how he's saying it. He's making claims and failing explain or back most of them up. (His entire first chapter is devoted to how wonderful words and communication were in Genesis chapter 1, yet he doesn't refer in detail to any part of the chapter, nor does he quote from it. He does, on the other hand, include a long (3 page) quote from the book of Isaiah. In other words, he's saying things that he could pretty easily and quickly make a decent argument for, and he doesn't. I find that ridiculously distracting as I read.) 

But I finally hit an idea (as opposed to a writing style) that made me wonder. He claims that, "Every word we speak is rooted either in the truth or in a lie." (p. 23) What do you think of that? If I say that dinner's ready, and it's not actually on the table, nor even out of the oven, but I know that by the time everyone reaches the table it will be, does that mean my speech is rooted in a lie? Is it even helpful to think of statements like that in that light? Or what about my statements in the second paragraph of this post? Are they rooted either in a truth or a lie? Is it helpful to look at them in that light? 

It seems to me like this guy likes to make grand statements. He over emphasizes things in one direction or another in order to make his point. And yet, in talking about lying, does the fact that he over states himself mean that he's speaking from a position of lies rather than truth? Can you truthfully overstate truth? 

"Every word we speak is rooted either in the truth or in a lie." I don't think words are that simple. I don't think people, or most other things in our universe, are so clear cut. What do you think? 

(For those of you going, "Bu..bu..but what about absolutes? you might want to read this post.)

Achieving the Full Stature of Christ

In my last post I mentioned that the church should be, "a growing body of united believers achieving the full stature of Christ." This was in part taken from Ephesians 4:13 in the NRSV. 

In the NIV, and backing up to include verses 11 and 12, the passage reads:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Other translations read:

"...unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" -- KJV (... and several other translations read pretty much the same as this.)

"...measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ." -- The New Living Translation

"We will receive everything that Christ has for us." -- New International Readers Version (Wow! This version reads quite differently than the rest.)

All of that simply to ask, what do you think that the "full stature of Christ" bit is all about? If we are to grow up into it, what are we growing up into? What does this look like? How do we know when it's happening? What do you think?