I wrote in my update letter recently that I started a Bible study of sorts with some old friends from high school. The first get-together was last Wednesday. Three of my old buddies and I started off by expressing our frustrations with the church as it’s viewed today and why each of us has stopped attending. “There’s nothing there,” one said. “I’m just lost in a crowd.” It seemed that they were staggering between excitement at expressing long festered frustration and guilt about doing so.
Let me just pause to say that the Lord is sovereign – he uses mega churches, institutions, whatever he chooses. My goal here is to question the establishment in the pursuit of truth.Last night we met for the second time, this time thirteen people showed up. Apparently friends invited friends and there was great interest. The discussion began with me conveying the vision and how this all came about, which I will now relay to you.
The thought originated as God convicted me of being one-sided in my ministry – going all out on mission trips and not really doing much at home. At the same time, I looked at my friends that I had known the longest and realized all that we talk about is shallow. The deepest conversations we’ve had have only followed too much beer and would be all but forgotten as we push them in all their awkwardness to the furthest reaches of our memories. And so I called the guys up and told them I think it’s a shame that this is the case and we ought to do something about it while we’ve got the time.
Last night I conveyed this to everyone who had gathered, my high school buddies now being the minority, and asked everyone’s thoughts on the church. A variety of viewpoints followed ranging from expressions of bitterness to reading Acts 2. One of the girls was a step ahead of me the whole time, which is awesome because they need to take ownership of this thing since I’ll be gone at the end of the month anyhow. “We need to be careful,” she said “that this doesn’t become just a group of people venting with no desire for correction.” I gave her a fist pound (I think that’s what it’s called) and we moved into what this group should be – what they want it to look like.
A few major things came up, but rediscovering the Acts 2 church and acting in the fullness of who God intended his bride to be seemed to be the goal. In an effort to advance as a body, I pointed out, understanding and vulnerability need to be ever present. From there the group shared where they are, mostly spiritually, and how they came to be at this point. I cut it short due to time, everyone said they’d like this to continue, we prayed and a bunch of us stuck around, drank some wine and played Taboo.
It’ll be interesting to see where God leads this. I didn’t realize at the outset that the Lord has a great plan for this group, but that fact is becoming very evident. There is no bureaucracy, no institution, and are no limitations. It will be what the group would like it to be, I’ll help to formulate and facilitate it and, hopefully, we will learn to love the Lord. Or, at least, we will dream about rediscovering the Lord’s bride as she was intended to be and perhaps a few people will catch a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven.
Next Thursday marks our third meeting. Please pray that the Holy Spirit directs us all and draws us to himself.
