Stefani posted today, and I would like to share that post with you. The entire post is here, and if you would like to read it before continuing, I would be okay with that...
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Okay, done? Great!
Regarding midweek meetings, I used to feel that was an important part of church life, and any church that we went to better have that, or we would be going someplace else. There are reasons for this, and Stefani touched on a couple of them. The most important reason, for me, is the fellowship that you cannot get from a Sunday morning worship service. The midweek meeting is a chance to sit down with a group of like-minded people, when we can share with each other how our week is going, what we are struggling with, what we are thankful for - basically a time to get to know one another closer. To me, the ideal church is built around these midweek gatherings, and then Sunday morning service is a time of celebration, when all the small groups get together and praise and worship and share the great things that God is doing in our small groups. Sounds wonderful ...
After reading about Jake Colsen and his struggles with meetings and structure, I now realize that what I actually desire is not a midweek meeting of regular Sunday morning worshipers, but a get together that can happen at any time, at any place, for any reason - doesn't have to be a meeting - doesn't even LOOK LIKE a meeting!! Wow, I want that!
Structure ... what about that? To say that there is order and structure in all things goes against what we are taught in high school science, that all things degrade, and structure and order are becoming chaos. This is not to say that Father did not intend for there to be structure and order - on the contrary, when Adam walked with Father in the Garden of Eden, there was certainly order, not chaos. Chaos and degradation of matter is a result of sin, isn't it? I believe that Father intended structure and order, but I do not think it looks like the structure and order that we are used to. Consider when Jesus drove the people from the temple, he was in a sense rebelling against what the church thought was structure (the selling/providing of sacrificial animals to people who did not have them). Admittedly there were other things involved in that, so do not let me assume it out of context, but the point is that we may not even realize what His structure and order look like.
Some of my most memorable experiences in church are when the pastor, realizing that the Holy Spirit is moving strongly throughout the worshipers, decided to fore-go his weekly yakking, and let Father move. That is cool; spontaneity and freedom. Wow!
What I found amazing, in the book, is how Jake and his friends were learning that they did not need meetings. For people that are brought up with the structure and institution of church, that is a profound discovery, believe me! I have often felt trapped, even in small group meetings (cell, home group, whatever you want to call it) because we had to follow a certain structure.
Anarchy is described as
"a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society"
I am not condoning anarchy against government (although a coup would make them think!), nor am I condoning the anarchy that you think of that is associated with no law and no rules. Christian Anarchy, if you must, is a state of organization that does NOT consist of leaders and elders, and is governed, if you will, but the people that are affected by the governing. The early church did not have leaders, as we know them. Yes, there were the Apostles, but they were teachers that people listened to, much like we listen to a favorite pastor or teacher or public speaker. They were not leading the worship, or leading the service, or making sure that everyone was saying the same prayer or studying the same scriptures. It was the people doing that, on their own, because they wanted to! Wow!
We don't need leaders telling us what to do. We don't need leaders encouraging us to go to meetings or go to church or go to prayer or go on missions. We need to take responsibility for our own Christianity, and learn how to love Father, and trust Him like Jesus did! Nothing personal against the leaders, if they are reading this, but maybe you need to take a second to consider what you are doing, and why. Is it really for the benefit of the people, or is it for the benefit of the institution, the building, that you hold so dear?
Hmmm ... maybe it is the beer talking ...
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