Here are some things I love about church, not the church as it could and possibly should be if we could see it, but the church as it is. These are not in any particular order.
1. The Food
It is the basic things that are often the most profound. The food and drink I consume on a regular basis to keep me going has turned out to be the most important thing about our time together as a church. That’s right. It’s the most important thing about our gathering. I am not talking about the spiritual food – though that is essential – I do mean the physical act of sitting together and eating and drinking sharing the same food and drink. It brings a husband and wife together. It brings a family together. It brings a team together. It brings the church together. It brings a community. It brings the Father and His Redeemed together.
2. The Laughter
I learnt in church that laughter is not only a great medicine, it’s a great way of relaxing people enough for them to learn. I saw that in church settings time after time. I saw how some of the hardest people were softened and opened to reasoning, by a well placed word that lightened the mood. Some of the rapier wit I have seen from brethren has been better than the best stand up comedians you can name. When it’s used properly (and unfortunately that’s not always the case) God shines through the laughter and we can understand why we have no need to worry or fret or get caught up with things that are not that important.
3. The Mannerisms
Linked to the laughter, when you’re with a group of people who meet regularly and have done for years set patterns emerge. Personalities and their mannerisms come to the fore. Some of them we treat like sacred cows, but others after a while we can learn to laugh at. The way we end services with the same rote verse, the way the preacher will say he’s ‘winding down’ which is a hint that he’ll be talking for another 30 minutes, how the old lady in the corner will pipe up when her favourite issue is raised. Those things. They actually are a comfort because of their familiarity. They are also a good point at which to start comparing what we do with what God requires in a non-threatening manner.
4. The Singing
Is there anything more beautiful than a group of people singing together? Seriously, at its best it’s not about being pitch perfect or getting all the words right all the time. It’s about that group of people who close their eyes and sing out their praise and adoration to a God who has made things so beautiful we can only sing o His wonders and grace. I love it. It is a glimpse of heaven, it’s a sign of what shalom can look like when we’re altogether singing from the same hymn sheet.
5. The Passion
The thing about the passion of the saints is that it is invested in a good matter. I see passion elsewhere about art, sport, finances, education and politics. The passion of the church when I see it is something unique. It’s as if the energies of something deep and life-giving comes together and pours itself out in finding out what it is to live holy, what it is to be compassionate, what it is to seek God. That passion I’ve seen in street ministries, in youth activities, in prison and hospital visits far surpasses what I’ve seen for a football match or a good meal.
6. The Praying
A good argument is that sometimes praying is an excuse for inaction. Some people do that. That is a complete misunderstanding of prayer. I love how the church finds communicating with God so important. Especially when that communication inspires people to start things like the YMCA that prayer is pretty awesome. It is so brilliant seeing people gather and give themselves and their issues to the Lord in prayer – earnestly, emotionally and then see prayers answered. Sometimes even when those answers don’t fit our desired outcomes, the desire to pray on is something I love.
7. Those Times When We Put The Words Into Action
There was this prayer meeting I sat in on. The people were desperate to see what God was to do in the city and someone said we needed to be more expressive in our love for those who didn’t get it. From there a fledgling soup service started. It got the interest of some people, and in its own understated way it showed again that believers are at their best when like the Father we serve we say something and those words become actions.
8. The Sense Of Intimate Camaraderie
At times that closeness can be somewhat stifling. It can feel like a closed club and there are cliques of people who have known each other for years. Through that though, I love those opportunities where a genuinely tight intimate camaraderie is so evident and inclusive that strangers on the outside are made to feel welcome. One time I visited this church and there were a group of people who didn’t rush me, they just enquired about me, invited me to join them for lunch. There’s such a warmth there, it’s such a good setting for a gospel demonstration. No strings attached, no demands to pray a prayer, just a desire to love and serve.
9. Those Beautiful Moments Of Self-Awareness, Contrition And Repentance
Just like on the personal level, the church can stop and check itself. On checking itself it can recognise that it’s lost focus on the One who matters. It can stop going through the motions to realise that the motions are not drawing it towards God or towards sharing His Kingdom with the world. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, perhaps, but it does happen that we stop and we see where we’re going wrong and we express sorrow with a desire to change. We are able to change and I have witnessed it, just as I’ve seen it on an individual level, I’ve seen the church able to make changes in the light of where we’ve gone wrong.
10. The Desire To Love Jesus And Reflect Him In The Earth
No, we don’t always do it in the right way. Sometimes we get it horribly wrong. Yet at the core of why the church is the church is that belief that Jesus is God come in the flesh, who fulfilled the prophecies of one who would redeem, reconcile and restore all things to His Father. What I love about the church – the real, gritty, hypocritical, mistake-ridden church is that it still holds that to be true and it’s still on a journey of being purified in its service to the world as an agent of that mission.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 