WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

This was John's constant question. I can't tell you how many times over the years I heard him ask it. And he would add, "for this isn't it". After years of organized "christianity" with it's fancy building and programs he always felt out of place. Men who saw potential in him grabbed him and began to try to "pump him up" for something "greater". Excuse all the quotation marks but they are in emphasis of the lack of truth in it all. I drive by the place where a pinnacle once stood, an edifice of success and supposed "anointing". There is a bridge there now in place of the large "church", school, parking lot and sports field with joining prayer walk. All the promise of years to come. Oh there is such a lesson here and if we don't listen we will miss it.
It all started in our hearts as we were excited about our faith and salvation in Jesus Christ. A small group of us met in an upper room of an office having a weekly bible study. As we crammed into this room from growth in numbers, it was decided we would meet in a local hotel. Well we continued to grow. Nothing special in effects. A few songs then our teacher would read off the study he put together on paper for everyone to have and read together. In between he allowed for testimonies. Every week it grew and more and more came by invitation. We moved it to local school settings of auditoriums or cafeterias. In a year's time there were hundreds attending this Tuesday event. There was such joy and excitement for me. I was 17 years old and having accepted Christ as my Savior the year before I was beyond joyful. At the age of 18 I along with others signed a charter to create a church. If we only understood that the Lord had already created it by His Spirit. Along came plans for breaking ground and building a large Center for gathering. All seemed right in the world but it was not. When men decide to not wait on God and seek His will first and plunge into "business" as usual that is when life leaves. Within a few years of being in the building the bible study died down to a few. So much money and effort had to go into this project. Then the labor to keep it up was monumental. Why so much for something that will not last. Our relationship with Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit and with one another is the true life of the church. And with the need to make programs and get volunteers to tirelessly man them, it leaves little time for relating on any deep level. I would watch as my husband tried to fulfill the many tasks that lay before him. A simple man who had an insatiable desire to love God with his whole soul. His constant fasting and prayer for church showed me his dedication to see this in his day. I did not understand, I did not see it then like him.
But after many years in 2007 when we decided to resign from our little mission, I finally saw and understood. We never left ministry, our home was a constant place for anyone who needed a place to live, to cry, to pray, to eat, to just belong. I believe the Lord puts in every heart this longing to belong, to be heard, to be truly loved. Is it such a difficult thing for the church in America to understand this? With our release from the unending demands of organized religion, we were ready to live it out daily in our simple way of loving. Every evening John & I worshipped and prayed and believed. The fellowship was otherworldly, I will never forget the hours of sharing our hearts together. It is the one thing I miss the most. It is the one thing I desire to bring to my family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. Two weeks before John went to be with the Lord, he said, "You know what? You are my most favorite person in the world to hang with." And I quickly replied with a heart full, "And you are mine". It was not just a feeling coming from a romantic desire. It was rich, deep and truly spiritual. When someone speaks to you, do you look them in the eye? Do you really listen? Or are you anxious to move on to more important folk or to get to be the one who is heard. I've done a lot of talking in my day and now its my turn to listen and feel what they are feeling. To love the way I was commanded to love, to give my time, my patience and my abilities to make that other person feel like they are truly loved, not by me alone but by my God who lives in me. No desire for a stage, or audience, just real relationship. The kind that will bring healing to a lost and dying world and healing to all my brothers and sisters who have been hurt by all the plastic activity we call successful ministry. Each individual touching another can change the world. As we get on our knees let us pray and repent from such fluff and hear His heart. The kind of heart that left the crowd and found a woman rejected by the rejected. He revealed His nature as He told her, her failed past and sinful present would not stop him from offering her living water.
He told us as He ascended my brethren to go, not to build and beg the world to come to us. There are too many that will never come to your fancy buildings, or tailored meetings. Jesus is our home and we are His dwelling place. We bring Him wherever we go. Look and see and hear what the Spirit is saying the church is. John and I got the answer finally. We agreed it is Jesus, the church being Jesus. And may I ask, Where did he build? He began with a motley crew of men, who were anything but perfect. He ate with, lived with, travelled with them for over 3 years. With No pinnacle or edifice of grandeur,  what did He give us? He gave us Himself. He died for us, rose again and sent His Spirit. This motley crew were later known as the men who were turning the world upside down again without edifice or building. This is the result of One life, One love. May we see Jesus as He is, and finally be the church....Oh beloved......be the church.

 Amen, let us hear what the Spirit is saying.