Tuesday, September 09, 2008

No Business Being Here!

I once attended a meeting where there was no meeting.  Now before you jump to conclusions, most of those in the meeting thought that the point of the meeting was meeting.  There was no fighting over resources, there was little reporting of accomplishments, there virtually no planning for action.  Essentially, we had no business being there.  Unfortunately, churches can slip into the meeting for the sake of meeting.  Sundays come and go without the Services take place, ministries go through the motions.  One of the things I constantly have to fight against is doing things for while not considering WHY we do things.  It is too easy to get into a routine, a rut, to go through motions.  Activities, for activities' sake will kill any organization.  

Through this lens, a simple baby shower takes on purpose.  We are not getting together with friends, we are celebrating a new life with a working mother of two who works 12 hour shifts as an RN in ICU then comes to church to teach preschoolers about the love of God.

Through this lens we are not throwing a Jail House Rock party for the kids, we are sending 1000 invitations to local students and building a bridge that will transform their lives and make an eternal impact.

Through this lens we are not simply teaching theology,  but we are laying the ground work for a relatively  new believer to have a 2 hour conversation with a lost family member who is now seeking Christ.

Through this lens we are not having church, we are coming together as a believers to love and support one another through the temporary trials of this life and to provoke one another to love and good works.

The church has no business having no business.  There ought to be meetings today, where there is not enough money to accomplish the plans, there is not enough volunteers to accomplish the ministries, where there are competing groups who are passionate about reaching a common goal.

Today we had a great staff meeting.  Today, we looked again at why we do the things we do.  We cannot have church stuff for the fact that churches have stuff.  And by God's Grace, we won't!

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Excellent in the way is was written! I fully agree. I read it to Sandye as well and she is also in agreement.