It's one of The Office quotes that hangs on my fridge.
I'm still sitting in Ebenezer's trying to wait out a thunder storm and this thought came to me. It's a combo of the Andy Stanley discussion I mentioned in my last post and Wild at Heart that we're reading as a small group: Andy Stanley said that from the start of Northpoint he wanted to pick one Sunday a year and close the church. It would honor all the volunteers that made it happen and provide an incentive for people to actually believe that the church was people and not just a building to meet in.
Personally I think it's brilliant, but the response from many pastors and church elders, I know because I've suggested it, is "What? Close church?". As much as we'd try to manipulate our words, unfortunetly this response is primarily out of fear - most often of finances.
Most of what you encounter when you meet a man is a facade, an elaborate fig leaf, a brilliant disguise. John Eldredge - Wild at Heart
And it's true. We as men run from this question: Am I really man enough for what God requires? God requires faith. Do we have enough to cancel church if he calls us to? Stop the rationalizing about whether or not he would. That's not the question. Do you? What are we afriad of? If it's disappointing God then wouldn't He be more disappointed with our lack of faith that he could provide in a circumstance when only he could? What would happen if we canceled meeting at church so we could be the church to our families and communities?
I'm still sitting in Ebenezer's trying to wait out a thunder storm and this thought came to me. It's a combo of the Andy Stanley discussion I mentioned in my last post and Wild at Heart that we're reading as a small group: Andy Stanley said that from the start of Northpoint he wanted to pick one Sunday a year and close the church. It would honor all the volunteers that made it happen and provide an incentive for people to actually believe that the church was people and not just a building to meet in.
Personally I think it's brilliant, but the response from many pastors and church elders, I know because I've suggested it, is "What? Close church?". As much as we'd try to manipulate our words, unfortunetly this response is primarily out of fear - most often of finances.
Most of what you encounter when you meet a man is a facade, an elaborate fig leaf, a brilliant disguise. John Eldredge - Wild at Heart
And it's true. We as men run from this question: Am I really man enough for what God requires? God requires faith. Do we have enough to cancel church if he calls us to? Stop the rationalizing about whether or not he would. That's not the question. Do you? What are we afriad of? If it's disappointing God then wouldn't He be more disappointed with our lack of faith that he could provide in a circumstance when only he could? What would happen if we canceled meeting at church so we could be the church to our families and communities?
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