Church. Community. Christianity.
If we’re honest with ourselves…we’re doing it wrong.
We all know that Church isn’t just the building in which we worship. (Although shout out to dictionary.com for that being their #1 definition.)
The Church is the Body of Christ. The people who have devoted their lives to sharing in both the joys and sufferings of being a follower of God.
Firstly, being a Christian back in the day was hardcore. I mean, at some points when people like Nero were in charge, it was almost crazy as well as deadly to confess you were a follower.
Today, the Church is full of those who have applied the label of “follower” liberally to themselves. In America, we swing our nice cars into our usual parking space at church and stroll into the million-dollar building with our church clothes on without a care in the world. We have the luxury just to be free in the American church, but we’ve completely fallen away from what the Church is actually supposed to look like.
From Acts 4: “All the believers were of one heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he was in need.”
If you’ve ever served on a church council or been to a congregational meeting, you know the first sentence of this passage is nothing short of a miracle. All of one heart and mind? Impossible. But really the apostles were of one heart and mind because each believer was after the Lord’s heart and mind.
Personally, I’ve really been learning to soften my heart toward the second sentence. I bought a really cute dress here a handful of weeks ago. Yesterday, one of the guys in our house stopped me as I was walking out the door wearing it and said, “Okay, either six of you guys have the same dress or you’re all passing it around. Whose dress is it?” Me being an inherently pretty selfish youngest child, it was hard the first few weeks of living in a community of those who give and take freely from each other. But now I realize how beautiful it is. Especially when no one is giving grudgingly.
And the last two verses? Like what? Every believer should be both this selfless and this generous with there time, money, and resources. (Especially seeing as it’s from God from the beginning.) I’m astounded every time I read about the early Church. Every church should be giving like this. There is no excuse to say it’s just not in your church’s mission or goals or religion. James clearly stated, “Religion that is pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted be the world.”
But how do we know how to find those people in need? Whether physically, spiritually, or emotionally, the Church needs to start being honest with each other. Paul tells us in Romans to “rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.”
Galatians tells us to “bear one another’s burdens” to fulfill the law of Christ.
James tells us to “confess our sins to one another and pray for each other,” so we may be healed. He goes on to say how powerful the prayer of our brothers and sisters can be.
How are we supposed to know how to pray for each other if we aren’t honest with each other in confessing our sins and sharing our burdens?
I have a team six lovely, lovely ladies. They’re incredible women of God who know almost everything about me. They know the sins I’ve struggled with in my past and they know what I’m wrestling with every waking moment. Although this emotional intimacy with others seems scary, I can sit here in Antigua, Guatemala three months into my Race and tell you that it is the most freeing thing that’s ever happened to me. Almost every night we have “team time,” where we sit in a room by ourselves and talk, study the word, pray, play games, watch a movie, etc. We often start with feedback. In other words, we love each other enough to point out the ways in which a team member could look more like Jesus. This concept may also seem weird and even scary, but actually, knowing the girls on my team love me enough to sacrifice my offense makes me love them more.
After feedback we often times simply talk about life. I’m not talking about things like, “hey, please pray for my grandma; she’s sick.” No. We say things like, “hey guys, recently I’ve really been struggling with lust.” We talk about the deep and the nitty gritty. We talk about spiritual warfare and pray boldly for healing. We bring light to the darkness rooted in our hearts. The Devil’s tools are shame and regret. He enjoys making us feel as though we’re the only one’s in the world who struggle. Bringing our battles into the light gives other believers the opportunity to speak life over you, and fight your battle alongside you.
Whether you’re in your 60’s and have been going to the same church your whole life or you’re a Junior at a Christian school, community is supposed to be a real, raw place full of people who have the freedom to be honest, broken, and lost. This authentic community is a gift from God that most fellowships of believers is lacking. That truly should sadden us.
In my house on Thanksgiving, we started the day by going to the mountain village where we’re building a house. After we came home from ministry and before dinner that night, we took communion as a house, remembering God’s gift to us and thanking Him. After dinner we sat in a circle, my friend Erin got her guitar, and we started worship, giving thanks again to the only One who mattered. The worship that night was incredibly beautiful. You could feel the Lord’s presence in the room. After the songs were finished, I immediately went to the kitchen, thinking about how many dishes were to be done. I looked up though and my gaze fell on twenty young men and women in groups of two or three praying over each other.
I can’t tell you how full my heart was. This was family. This was community. This was church. This was men and women ardently seeking Christ. This was Christianity.
I’m not saying my house or my squad has it all right. Lord knows we struggle every day. But I’m finally a step closer to knowing what the early church may have looked like and, knowing the difference, I hope I never go back to the superficiality of my past Christian experiences.
On a lighter and less rant-y note, next time I blog I’ll most likely be in Malaysia (after three layovers and a 16-hour birthday plane ride.) We’ll also be having team changes in this time which will be really hard for me, as I love my Beans to the moon and back. We don’t know exactly where we’ll be living in Malaysia or what our ministry will look like, but I’l update my blog as soon as I can when I know! Thank you again for all your prayer and support!
