Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Experiencing church?
I was listening to an advertisement on Light FM today ... "Experience church" was the catch phrase. You might know the ad if you also listen to Light FM. It got me thinking. I've heard that kind of catchy phrase around the traps before. And, on the most part, I don't see much of a problem with it. The more I ponder it, however, the more I think it kind of misses the mark. Please, don't think I'm criticizing churches with this type of mentality. My desire is not to put down the way other churches 'do church'. But I am just wondering: shouldn't the focus be on experiencing Jesus? After all, to be a Christian is to be a "follower of Jesus Christ". All you need to do is read about him, study him, pray in his name, worship him, try to be like him. And, more importantly, "go and make disciples of all nations" as he commanded us. Church is our base-point. A place to learn more about Jesus, to be challenged, to worship our God, to fellowship with other Christians. Then, for the most part of our week we are to "take Jesus" to the people. With too much emphasis on church itself, there is a very real risk of good intentions turning a little wayward and taking the attention off the very thing we are there for.
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2 comments:
Belinda, I take your point. I assume this is the advertisement you're referring to. Light FM is partially an evangelistic station, and broadcasting church services, as they do on Sunday mornings, is part of their outreach to unchurched people. Some Christians would prefer to physically attend church and fellowship with others, but for whatever reason, may not be able to.
Another group may be Christians who have a consumer mentality towards church, where their attitude is that they only for what they can get out of it personally, and have no desire for fellowship with others. Churches need to remind us that Christianity is a lifestyle, and not something that we think about for an hour or so once a week.
Hey Ross :)
Yeah, I guess that was what Light FM was talking about, but I wasn't referring to that type of radio-church (which can certainly be very important for some people and can be a great outreach). It's just that particular saying ('experience church') got me thinking toward other times where I've heard the term. I agree with you, in that Christianity is a lifestyle, not just a Sunday thing.
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