3 Comments

1. Lauren  •  Jul 19, 2010 @4:48 am
   

   Thank you for your thoughts. I’ve read your “Why I don’t go to Church” series and I find it very interesting. I agree with you that the Church is not a building, but people (or a “gang”), but have you thought about this: Gangs have multiple people in them. It’s difficult to be in a gang if you don’t have a regular meeting place where you hang out and remind each other of your purpose. You’re not really a gang if you never get together. To me, that seems like the reason to go to church. I don’t go to the church (the gathering of believers in Jesus) because it makes me feel good about myself, or gives me an emotional high. I go to the church because if I don’t, I will forget who I am because of Jesus.

2. Kaala  •  Jul 21, 2010 @8:54 pm
   

   Thanks for your thoughts, Lauren! I appreciate ‘em. AND I agree that gangs/churches need to meet together regularly – not sure if they have to have a place that is more formal than the same corner or parks – but at least a place where if it rains you won’t get wet. I’m not advocating not meeting together at all. What I am saying is that sometimes the meeting together at church is about as productive as most meetings in the marketplace – which means, to be more direct, not very. So, if for me my meetings are doing more harm then good (see 1 Cor 11:17-33), I need to find an alternative.

   Interesting enough, right in the midst of writing my posts and explaining why I don’t go to church I went to church! I had a great time seeing a lot of people I haven’t for a while and joining in the corporate worship (which is one of the things I miss the most from the conventional church service).

   I have a “gang” of people that I meet with. We don’t schedule things like once a week or month or quarter. My children are included in that group. We usually meet, eat, and talk. We also communicate through the normal on-line and social network ways. And this is the fascinating thing for me: Can meeting online be a legitimate form of fellowship? Can it be considered for Hebrews 10:25′s injunction to “…not stop meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.” I also communicate with a pastor mostly through facebook messages and updates and occasionally, because he lives far from me, at a coffee shop. When we last met this is what we talked about. Is our relationship a “real” form of Christian fellowship?

   My “gang/church”, in reading my description above, looks a lot like what many would call my friends. People I can count on, people who have been there, people who will be there for the long haul. If you’re a member of a large enough church, 95% + of the people are probably not even in your address book much less your speed dial. This is where I think we need to get more natural and organic and gang-like.

   Thanks again for your thoughts. My hope for all this is that we grow closer to God and more like Christ.

   Aloha!

3. Kaala  •  Jul 21, 2010 @9:07 pm
   

   I just changed the picture to a shot of our gang on our incredibly spiritual Na Pali coast hike. Awesome!

Leave a Reply