Simple Church Reflections????

Any of you who follow my blog may have noticed that the title of my blog doesn't really match what I write, at least not in an obvious sort of way. I suppose that's because when I started writing I was still detoxing from the previous misconceptions of what life in Jesus and His family is all about (and I am not done, of course). But I figure if I changed the title now it will make things worse, so ...

I also want to thank you for your patience with me. I know the last few posts have been rather disjointed, a reflection of how our lives have been of late. Today, though, I am going to try to be more coherent :-) And I am also actually going to "reflect on church at its simplest"!

Although I am hardly a "purist" when it comes to simple, organic church, I do ponder from time to time how form (or more accurately the thinking that it gives birth to and expresses) can either hinder or help folks grow in their relationship with God. My own preference, as you know, is to think of God's family in the very simplest of terms, similar to what Wayne Jacobsen describes in his writing and speaking. But I find myself often in all kinds of "church" settings and choose not to pass judgment. Rather I like to ask questions or make a few observations.

Here are some observations about tendencies which become hindrances to real life in Jesus that may be more common in traditional expressions of the church. I am not saying that these obstacles cannot be overcome, but I wonder why we put up with them if we really want to see God's Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven... Note, though, that many of the tendencies I describe are also present in the house church world. See what you think.

Some tendencies that must be overcome are...

• The tendency for people to have the leader hear God for them, instead of hearing God's voice for themselves. Since hearing His voice is at the heart of a growing relationship with Him, this is a big obstacle (and not limited to TC!)
• The tendency to think “come” to a church building, an event or even a house instead of coming to Jesus.
• The tendency to think of the extension of God's Kingdom in terms of "you come" instead of "as I go." (Note that I am not suggesting a missional lifestyle here as some think of it, but rather a life that expresses Father's love all the time, in every context, as the Spirit leads).
• The lack of life-on-life connection around Word and Spirit that is the absolute essential for true discipleship. We cannot get past this, and any structure or form that makes life on life more difficult or less visible needs to be carefully examined, in my opinion.
• The tendency to be information-based rather than "obedience-that-flows-from-being-loved" based in our approach to life in Jesus.
• The many obstacles to practicing “one another” that a focus on meetings, buildings and events presents.
• The tendency to think of the life of a believer as events, meetings, etc. This is a really prevalent tendency, but it is often subtle and not obvious to those living in the "matrix" of religion and churchianity. Think about it.
• The tendency to take a cookie cutter or otherwise programmed approach to the deep transformation of lives that can happen only in the context of living together in natural and growing relationships with God and one another.
• The tendency for people to feel that they must hide their pain rather than bring it out into the light because everyone else in the crowd seems to "have it together," perhaps especially the "leaders" up front. And yes, a transparent leader and a "safe" environment can help with this, but can a truly safe environment be created any other way that living life on life with others in the loving presence of Father God? And how simple can we make this? (Really simple, I think).

Okay, I have done some simple reflections on the "church." Nothing original here, nor earth-shattering, but I felt I was to go this direction this week, not sure why. I trust you can hear in these words, though, a cry for God's people to live simply in His love, escaping whatever entrapments their church paradigms put in their way, regardless of form.

Simply reflecting...

Tom, one of Abba's children