Earth Tourist

Church is not as much about attending an event as it is an expression of reality on our Christian walk. Unlike a movie or a play where we go in, suspend belief for a couple hours and then go back to the “real world,” we go to church and activate belief, spend some time directly with God, and then go out and try to apply ourselves and His kingdom truths to the temporal world we live in.

During the course of our everyday lives, we regularly indulge in entertainment to help us “unwind” or “veg,” taking our minds off the stress of the day. We’ll watch movies, listen to music, anything to distract us, to relax us.

Church is not one of those things.

Gathering together with like-minded people, at least alike in their pursuit of the presence of God, is a key part of being a follower of Jesus.  While I sided with the “church is wherever his people are” crowd for awhile (and still agree in principle), it was only as an excuse to not attend church and be forced to deal with some of the issues that arise when “His” people gather together.

I put “His” in quotation marks in the previous paragraph, because I believe that people who really believe they belong to Him should be following him very closely, much closer than most of us have been willing to go. We wouldn’t face many of the petty struggles that come with being a church if we were willing to press closer than ever before, to God, and to each other. When a need arises within the church, it should be met with overwhelming attention from the body of believers. We should have too many people volunteering than too few.

My church family is quickly becoming my closest family, as our pursuit of Him causes us walk the same direction, and brings us closer together as we follow Him more closely. Look around you, let love overwhelm you as you see your sisters and your brothers, and purpose in your heart to be there for each other, whatever the cost.

Jesus did.