The Church Pt 1 #EverdayMay

I was sixteen when I had my first opportunity to engage in my first overseas “mission” trip. This experience was the inception of God ruining me for the ordinary. I remember sitting in a small living room, fellowshipping with our Moldovan brothers and sisters in Christ through laughter, card games, and delicious Moldovan delicacies. The common unity that we shared in the name of Jesus gave me this overwhelming sense of “rightness” that I had never previously experienced. I remember specifically thinking, this is what heaven is going to be. It’s not people floating on clouds or enjoying big mansions on pearly streets (thank God), but rather experiencing the depth of joy in the common unity we have in the fellowship of Christ with people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. There are few moments in my life where I have felt so alive, and it was in this moment that God embedded in me an instant love for the global church. Thankfully, I have never been able to shake it.

Since this experience, I have had the opportunity to engage in the global church in Honduras, China, India, and Germany. The problem with the global church is that it has left me incredibly dissatisfied with the church of the West. I feel that we are always missing something, always too focused on ourselves, and I just don’t see the miracles, answered prayers, and lives changed that I have experienced in places like India.

As my two years of serving and participating in the church in India were coming to an end, I specifically remember emailing my college pastor and now soon to be pastor, Curtis Jones, asking him for advice on how to deal with the church in America. People say that with re-entry that attending church will be one of the hardest adjustments for returning to America. So I was trying to get a head of the curve by asking the questions ahead of time.

Curtis’ response was gracious and he reminded me that Christ loves the church. He gave His life for His bride. Good or bad, it’s His. Despite my opinion of the church in America, “we dance with the one who brought us to the dance.” Basically reminding me that I am who I am today because of the Church. So this really helped me try to keep everything in perspective once returning.

Since my return home almost four years ago, I have wrested, struggled, and struggled some more with the concept of church. It has left me dissatisfied, longing for something more than ordinary. I always feel like somehow we are missing what God really intended when he called us “His church.” I have seen the beauty of the Church in corners of the world, but very rarely in my own country. Why is this? Until recently, I didn’t really even know what the church in the 21^st century should look like… “How do we deal with postmodernism?”, “seeker-friendly churches, are they right?”, “are massive expensive mega-buildings really necessary?”, “why is the emergent church really that bad?”, and “hymns vs. performance worship services, it is just preference?”. AHHH, I don’t know! All of these things just seem like futile attempts to be the “Church”, when really I just want to see God’s healing hand and His power at work among His people. I want to see new salvations, lives poured out, people sacrificing, people praying for BIG THINGS. If not, then what’s the purpose? Why do we even meet collectively? It wasn’t until last semester that God began to really make me finally deal with these questions, so I hope to blog a lot more about my journey and my thoughts…

So EverydayMay bloggers or friends that graciously love me enough to read my posts, What are your thoughts on the Church in the West? What do you think is a good church model? I want to provide a space for dialogue because this is such an important discussion for us as people of God. Have you had any experience with the global church? What are you frustrations or joys in the church? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your thoughts. Or maybe something interesting to talk about on Sunday, when hopefully we all meet and greet.