Urban Ekklesia

House Church. Urban Church. Organic Church. Multicultural Church. Simple Church. This is a space created for both humble and passionate reflection on the missional, emerging church in urban North America.

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Location: Bronx, New York, United States

A space for thinking out loud and inviting others to join the refining process. Justice, mission, politics, the city. Everything is connected. Theology is life.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Keeping First Things First

I've heard a sentiment expressed these days that there are many people in our society today who "want Jesus, but not church." Actually, my experience tells me that many people admire Jesus, but don't actually want him. He asks way too much of us. But in general, the sentiment does seem to be true. Much fewer people actually want "church," at least not as they've known it.

This evening, I was sitting in a family's living room for our regular discussion of God, faith, and the Bible. Each week they reflect on the Bible together as a couple and then I come over so we can process it together. The man, who has absolutely no religious background, expressed something to me. He explained: Since we've been visiting about faith in God, he's noticed that every time he encounters 'religious people,' they talk about church. He claimed that that is the beginning, middle, and end of their discussion. He said that he's noticed something different about our conversations. He noticed that we talk about Jesus. We've hardly even talked about church at all.

I went on to explain that identification with a Christian community as well as other elements of our faith should be an overflow of a relationship with Jesus. If someone is truly following Jesus, they'll probably begin to desire Christian community. But in reality someone may indeed "go to church" without really becoming committed to Jesus.

What if our main message was always Jesus? I'm not sure people would flock to us, but if you've ever gone through a catalogue of church outreach materials, you know how much this message would certainly stand out among the noise of "My church is better" style advertizing. It strikes me in Acts how the message was Jesus & His Kingdom, and church just kind of happened as an outcome.

I actually do talk about church. Of course, this conversation is especially for those who are already pursuing Jesus, have a background with church, and have an invested interest in working through the issues of Christian community for the sake of mission in our current cultural context. Nevertheless, tonight felt good. I don't want to be known as someone who talks about "church" all the time. I hope to be known as a deeply devoted follower of Jesus. And then, see church happen as a result. Lord, forgive us (me) when we lose sight of this.

May we all be known as disciples of the King.