Where is God at work, primarily? Where would you lean along the following continuum?
At one end is the presumption that God is at work in the Church, mostly. God moves most strongly among those who have already made a commitment to Jesus and to the Body of Christ. Therefore, to experience what God is doing, people must get into congregations. They must go to worship, become members, and get involved. That is how people experience God's activity.
At the other end of the continuum is the belief that God is at work in the world outside the Church. It is not the task of Jesus-followers just to get people inside congregations so they can experience God. Jesus-followers must get outside the walls of church to join in what God is already doing to draw people to Him. Church is not the origin of God's activity. It is the result of God's activity and faithful people aligning themselves with God's activity.
If you had to pick one end or the other, which one would you pick? I believe the answer makes all the difference in the world.
I'll see you around the next bend in the river.
Raking Leaves
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Fall is here. The sun is moving towards the edge of the frame where, in
just a few weeks it will hit the bumper rail and start back towards the
other side...
2 years ago
1 comment:
I think the keyword here is "church". I personally attend worship services in a building with a denominational name attached to it, and while I call it "church" it's only a building that provides a gathering location for the "church". "Church" is all persons who follow Christ, regardless of the building or the denomination attached to it.
And while a building may attrack a number of people on a particular day and time to worship together, not all who attend are actually following Christ, but attend for the purpose of being able to say so.
I keep thinking of the early "church" where followers of Christ gathered together for worship and food in people's homes. No denomination, no particular building site, just church.
Where is God at work, primarily? In His church, but that does not necessarily mean in a particular congregation or a building, but in the believer.
He is at work both inside and outside the walls of a building that we refer to as "church".
He's at work in loving hands and caring hearts. He's at work where the well dressed and affluet gather, and he's at work where the hopeless and unloved try to hide. He's at work in His church, which is everywhere you look, if you have eyes to see.
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