And I said, "Sure, why not?"
So we did.
See, the thing is, we haven't been attending Sunday morning services for the last few months. I discussed this on a recent post. This is a decision that both myself and my wife have been quite comfortable with.
Technically, the small group we attend is affiliated with this larger church. It's a very nice church. Good, solid Bible teaching, emphasis on missions and community outreach, and always a rad and super-tight music thing on Sunday morning. They have cool videos and a great sound system. As far as Sunday morning church goes, this seems about as good as you'll find anywhere around this area.
Anyway, after the service we discussed how we felt about it, and decided we both still very much like our decision not to attend Sunday morning church. We read about ten times as much Scripture and Bible-teaching on our own as what we hear from the preacher/teacher guy during a monologue. We aren't really into the music there as an expression of what we consider "praise" or "worship" to the Lord. We give away more money than a tithe or offering would amount to, and we know for certain that what we give is going directly to meet needs in our community and around the world. We are actively involved in the messy lives of all the real, actual people we can handle. When additional service opportunities are brought to our attention, we gladly donate our time and energy to those. And the list goes on and on.
I'm fully aware of the objections that people can and do raise to this approach we're taking. I'm not defensive in addressing those, and do still have a few lingering concerns that I'll address on a later post.
In the end, both my wife and I chuckled at the notion -- "Maybe we'll attend church only on Easter and Christmas. We'll be those kind of Christians."
That statement is ironic, and bears no resemblance to what it would have meant to either of us just a few years ago.
CH,
ReplyDeleteSo, becoming "C&E" Christians, eh? :o)
I actually think that sounds great, given that you are meeting in a small group and doing all the other stuff you mention anyway. Not that you need MY permission nor approval anyway.
For me I think something similar could work, just to get a biannual fix of liturgy. I actually like liturgy and symbolism and find it moving - if I don't get (over)dosed with it every week. My problem is I am not as good at doing all the other stuff you mentioned, and I certainly don't have the small group thing available to make up for the worship/fellowship/whatever part.
Jim - The thing is, we don't really have a plan with all this, or where it's going. I was a little hesitant to list the points about how we're actually doing more now than when we were attending the big church. I don't want to come across as either trying to justify what we're doing, or as trying to boast as if we're now some kind of super-spiritual muckety-mucks. We can and should be doing so much more than we are. But the truth is that this whole thing so far has been freeing, on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteWho said YOU need a plan? Wanna bet the Holy Spirit has one, though?
ReplyDeleteI sure hope He does.
ReplyDelete