We are told that whenever two or more of us get together, be it by appointment, or chance meeting, Christ is with us. What if we honestly asked the question, why does Jesus want to be there with us? Would that change our thoughts about fellowship? Rather than feeling alone because we are no longer in the system, or have some form of regular “churchy” fellowship, maybe we would begin to discover that we in fact have more fellowship than we realize. My family has been out of church for a year and a half. We really have no plans to ever go back to a standard churchy form of worship.
Church is not a place you go. I first realized this a couple years ago while we were driving, I had one of my little ones say, as passing a church..”Look Mama, that is where Jesus lives!”
It just hit me! What were we teaching our children about Christ?
WE are the church, NOT the building.
The community around you should be your fellowship. This is how reaching out should be. If I lived in Norfolk,Connecticut..Then I belong to the church of Norfolk Connecticut. If I live in New York City, then I should belong to the church of NYC. I am not talking about building either. I am talking about people. We should meet other people in our community and share meals, break bread, and worship together. I suppose it is much easier to just join a club, or church. Church was never intended to be the way it is now. Just study church History and you’d be surprised at how things have changed. Not for the better either.
People need to be told what to do. Evidently, if someone has a baby, they would not be able to figure it out on their own, to chime in, and bring a meal, or offer a helping hand. Same goes for the elderly. People need to be instructed that the elderly may need a friendly greeting, or small gift of encouragement. People also need to know what the bible says, and what it means! This is why they need a pastor to tell them, and read to them. Evidently, being filled with the holy spirit is simply NOT enough. This is a reason why the pastors themselves need to go to seminary, in order to be taught what the bible truly means themselves.
See the pattern?
People(adults) like to be told what to think, and what to do. Most will spend their whole lives thriving on it!!! Who needs critical thinking skills, if we have someone always there , telling us what to think, pray about, wear, listen too,talk about, etc.
I am not going to get into why I think most people are this way. Although I do have a few thoughts about that. Given it has taken me decades to figure out that I am fully capable, as a spirit filled believer, to think for myself, pray about what the spirit leads me to pray about. Meet occasionally with other ladies to pray. I am also fully capable to look around me and just KNOW who is hurting, and who may benefit from a smile, a gift, a meal, or a conversation.
What if we all decided to soften our hearts and learn to be sensitive to those around us…
The Lord always seems to bring other believers into our lives. There is no motive, or ongoing mission. It just happens, Organically. Nothing is forced. It feels so good to rest in him….
The second thing I was thinking about, is that we are warned in Galatians 5 to not allow ourselves to be entangled with a yolk of bondage. As we all know the yolk Paul is talking about is religious obligation. If you can go to some form of organized meeting and it does not find a place in you to bring you under bondage or obligation then your liberty allows you to hang out and enjoy what it is you attended the meeting for. .
BUT,
If you find yourself immediately falling back into old forms of performance or the pressure to act a certain way so that you will fit in, or be accepted. ~Muster up all the courage you can and get out of there! You are not yet free from the bondage of religious performance.
In the modern church, goals are set for winning a neighborhood, winning a city, winning a country or winning the world, whereas in the early church the goal seemed to have been to follow Jesus. That has been very freeing for me, as I’ve focused my attention on knowing Father’s heart and learning to live in his love daily. I believe that will have greater value in drawing people to Jesus than the impersonal methods we employ that may bring them to salvation, but then leaves them in an immature state never really able to receive Christ’s love. It is truly something to think about…
