June 25
Stealing Content: Church ISN'T
Thursday, June 25, 2009 @ 9:02 am by Josh Burcham
Stealing from Brad Ruggles on this post, it was too good to pass up: “There’s an ancient principle that says you can learn more about something by first defining what it’s NOT before you try to define what it IS. Let’s take a look at a few things that Church ISN’T.”
Church Isn’t About Protecting Christians From The World
Some of the church environments I experienced maintained that the church was a haven of peace and hope in a horrible, broken world. We were the sheep. They were the wolves. We had to protect our sheep by keeping the wolves out. We were “in the world but not of it,” remember? While there are many churches who consciously or sub-consciously adhere to the idea of being a place to hide from the evils of the world, I remind you the type of company Jesus kept when he walked this earth. He could have adopted the Pharisee’s method of separating himself entirely from everything “unclean.” Instead, he was known as a “friend of sinners.” Can our church say that?Church Isn’t A Location or Building
While most of us know this intuitively, we still need to be reminded that the church isn’t a specific building or location. Our buildings and programs create environments for church to happen but they are no more or less sacred than our living room or even the neighborhood pub.Church Isn’t About You
This one is the most important distinction in my opinion. Church isn’t about YOU. It’s about THEM. I have no patience for people who visit a church and come home complaining that the music was too loud, the message too long or the air conditioning too cold. Some people view church as a “pick-me-up,” a little boost of joy and happiness to get them through the week. Show up, sing a couple songs, shake a few hands, go home and pull out the potroast. The church was never meant to be a place to cater to Christian’s comforts. It is and always has been about “seeking and saving those who are lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Read the rest of What Church ISN’T over at bradruggles.com.
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I fully disagree with this. That’s an ancient principle? Really, from who? Defining what something isn’t first will never get you closer to help in learning more about it.
I’ll give you a quick example:
I have something in my pocket. It isn’t a hamburger. I can’t eat it. It isn’t a water bottle. It isn’t a quarter, nickle, or dime. Now can you answer this one question, “Is it money?” You don’t know for sure. How much do you actually know about it right now? Not much. Now I’ll tell you what it is, a set of keys. They are for starting my car, getting into a locker, and getting into my house. No can you answer that one question? Sure you can, and you can answer a billion other questions about it. Not because I told you what it wasn’t, but what it is.
Here’s a quick story from a guy in one of my first online classes. It kind of fits here: When I was going through the police academy, there was a day where the Secret Service came in to talk about counterfeit money. You would think that they would bring in lots of different types to show us what it was all about; the different styles, inks, etc. Instead, they brought in the real stuff. Lots and lots of cash. We had to learn it inside and out. Why? He said ” If we know the real thing, we can spot a fake in a minute”.
Some people spend their entire ministry talking about what’s wrong with church, what people aren’t doing right, what’s wrong with Christians today, where the church is failing, etc. But that doesn’t get anyone any closer to the truth. If a preacher only teaches truth, then those followers will be able to spot non-truth quickly. And to those people who spend effort on what is wrong with the church, I would have one question for them “What are you doing about it?”
Comment by Steven Caress — July 1 @ 1:47 pm
I agree with you on this, the only thing is you can’t define what the church isn’t without knowing what the church is. Getting back to the basics of Christianity and the church: we are called to love God and love people. We know that the church isn’t about protecting Christians from the world, because we know that Jesus tells us we need to actively engage this world with His love. The church isn’t a location or building, because we have our model set for us in Acts 2. And we know that the church isn’t about you, but about God and others.
We couldn’t know what the church isn’t if we didn’t take the time in the first place to understand what and who God called the church to be. The “ancient principle” was a bad choice of words on Brad’s part and since I’ve been reading his blog for awhile I knew his heart behind the post.
Thanks for the dialog! I think you are the first to disagree with on my blog. Love it.
Comment by Josh Burcham — July 3 @ 9:12 am
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