Being the church

Have you ever looked at going to church on Sunday morning, going to a small group, going to hang out with and be with the church as being just "one more thing" on your schedule. When it feels like a chore or a duty. Or, sometimes we anticipate and look forward to these very same things because we enjoy them, we see friends, etc. We tend to fluctuate between these 2 poles of enjoying "church stuff" or simply dutifully taking part in them. But the church is neither something merely to be enjoyed nor is it simply one more thing we ought to do. The church is who we are! Being the church, not going to church, is the activity of Christians. We are to BE the church to one another - on Sunday mornings, at community group, in conversations, over email, during meals together - we are to BE the church. I believe that this fundamental misunderstanding of who we are in Christ robs us of much joy and makes the life Christ has given us seem burdensome. But when we understand that church is not something we do, but rather it is something God has made us in Christ, this relieves the burden of duty and allows us to experience the joy of Christ in us and in one another. This is something I have been thinking a lot about, and so you may see subsequent blogs revolving around this theme of BEING the church.