Is Your Church and The Church in sync?

Your t-shirt says, "I Love My Church!" Do your actions show that you love THE church?  I guess it's the jaded marketing person in me, but I have never really been a fan of those shirts.  It almost seems like damage control "despite what you have heard, all is well, and .... I love my church."  It reminds me of the "I love my wife" bumper stickers.  You read them and go "uh oh, what did he do?"  I think it may be better for your church or your wife, for you to show it versus quote it.    Now I will stop being jaded because I know some great people who own those shirts, bumper stickers, and coffee mugs with those exact quotes and are Christian role models for me.

I love church buildings and have for a long time. I get to travel a lot with my job and I love seeing different churches. If I see a church when I arrive in a new town I immediately feel more at home. I see a building where people have invested in worshiping God together and were thinking of something bigger than themselves.  I see a church that was thinking of future generations and was also focused on sharing the good news.  However, I do think we as Christians can promote "our church" and be more concerned about the health of "our church" than "THE church."

Many churches are in financial trouble these days. You can find a church building for sale in many towns. Larger cities may have several church buildings for sale. Some church buildings are actually home to more than one denomination that worship together.  The denominations have joined together under one roof feeling they are stronger together than apart.  Other churches are expanding their reach with satellite locations in surrounding cities. Still, other churches are in strip malls, movie theatres, and school buildings.

Let me share some pictures I have taken of various church buildings here in Kentucky.  The first is a picture of a church for sale.  It should be noted that while this church has seen better days, there is a church that seemed to be doing pretty well directly across the street.

Here is a picture of a church built in 1940 just about a mile from my home.  It is now someone's house and the kitchen cabinets are made from the former church pews.

Here is a picture of a church that used to be a Jewish synagogue and a Protestant church. However, since 1973 it has been a restaurant called Joe Bolognas serving up good pizza and great foot long bread sticks with garlic butter, but I digress.

This building used to be The Lexington Mall and has now been converted into Southland Christian church.  I think it's pretty cool to see a mall converted into a church versus a church closing and becoming something else.

In March of 2012, a tornado struck the town of West Liberty, Kentucky.  Below are pictures I took of two churches struck by the tornado.

It is really easy to see damage to the exterior of a church building.  It is much harder for some to see the damage on the inside of a church building. By this I mean all of the imperfections we as an imperfect people bring with us to church. We are an imperfect people worshiping a perfect God.  We may judge the person in front of us and think to our self  "please, why do you have your hands raised up during this song? what a show boat!" or "why doesn't the person in front of me have their hands up in the air like me? They must not love Jesus like I do.  I am feeling it today!"

As Christians, we love to love OUR church. "OUR church must be the way music was meant to be done. OUR church must be the perfect size church that God likes the best. OUR church wears the clothes that God prefers.  Why don't the other churches just close shop and stop embarrassing themselves? Come to OUR church where we do things the right way, God's way.  Not to get off topic, but those are not the things that define a church. Those may help define the personality of your church, but it is not right or wrong.  The important thing is that Jesus is alive in your church building and the Holy Spirit is allowed to work in and among the people in your church.  

I used to be a little sad to see churches closed, for sale, turned into a restaurant or a residence.  I guess I still am to some extent, but I now see sometimes it is for the best. I read a book called Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud which may have helped my perspective. Sometimes the church may have moved to a better location or to a larger building due to growth. Others may have closed due to a merger with another church. I am sure there has been a church or two that was so sick on the inside with pride and personal agenda it was not a bad thing it had to close.

I know the importance of belonging to a church.  This article is not to bash the local church.  In fact, I think it is clear that Christians need to belong to a local church family.  I have enjoyed the majority of my years in healthy church(s). Not a perfect church, but a healthy church. The ability to worship God together, share the good news, serve together, and have a church family is fantastic. I have the pleasure of going back to West Virginia this month to be a part of a 100 year anniversary celebration for the church I grew up in and where my father was a pastor.

I think a healthy local church is more concerned with THE church and it's mission than their own bricks and mortar. We as believers are "The Church." How many of us have been hit by a 'life tornado' like the church pictured above? How many of us are in need of repair? If we are THE church, how do we act toward others in THE church? It is not a competition we are all on the same team. Sometimes we as believers (even pastors) forget that and strive to be the best church in town! Would we as believers not be better to glorify God the best we can and live into our unique God given purpose?  It is more important to introduce a person to Christ than YOUR church.  The person may find they are a better fit at another local church.  It would be great if you had a good friend at that sister church and you said "Oh yes, you will love it there I bet. They have a real thirst for the Lord. Let me introduce you to some friends I have there." Versus "Well, I guess you could go there but I hear the music isn't very good."

God bless the small traditional rural church with 40 people in the pews that are living out what God is calling them to do and serving who they are called to serve. God bless the contemporary mega church with thousands in the room doing what God called them to do and reach who they were called to reach.

YOUR Church and THE Church are they in sync? In my 45 years, I have been a part of three denominations- Presbyterian, Southern Baptist, and the Christian Church.  

I have only been a part of one true church- THE church.

I heard a joke when I was in college by a comedian named Emo Philips.  I laughed when I heard the joke then in the late 80's, and I still find it funny today.  It has been named one of the funniest jokes of all time, and the funniest religion joke of all time.  Emo has a very unique style of telling jokes, so print will not do it justice. That being said, here is the joke:

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

I think the joke shows how petty and silly we as believers can be at times. 1 Corinthians 13:1 comes to mind here "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."

The Billy Graham Training Center Bible reads "The church is the community of redeemed people of which Jesus is the head (Colossians 1:18).  When Jesus came to earth as the Messiah, He ushered in the "Christian" church.  Beginning with Christ's life, death, and resurrection, His people would be called "the church."  This does not refer to a building, but rather to all who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  The church is also referred to as the 'body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12;27).

I enjoyed a great sermon series I heard about a year ago called "Be The Church" by Griff Ray at Crossroads Christian Church here in Lexington, KY.  I think it is a good thing for us as believers to remember, "Be The Church."

I was traveling in Indiana recently and saw the sign below, so naturally I had to stop and take a picture of it.  As we travel down the road of life, let's be the church.....

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, glad I am on this journey with you!

Robb