“Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church.”
For the first three hundred years of the Christian movement, churches functioned largely without the benefit of church buildings and cathedrals. The movement was simple, authentic, and transformational, aided by the fact that many of the concerns that have encroached upon the modern church didn’t exist. There were no mortgage payments. There were no phone, gas or light bills. There were no property taxes. There were no maintenance costs. There was simply the call of Christ to love one another and transform the world. The Gathering will be a church that seeks to return to these first principles of simplicity, authenticity, and transformation.
People are once again hungering for simplicity in their lives and in the church. In a world full of complexity, there is a great need for uncomplicated faith. Thom Rainer describes the simple church as “a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth,” (Simple Church, 60). Often we become so sidetracked with unnecessary concerns that we forget this important point: The church is nothing if it is not a place where the lost are redeemed and the hurting are made whole. It need not be a complicated mission, and we should remember that it will only be accomplished in the context of relationships.
Also, people are seeking authenticity. Ask a few people why they do not go to church and it will not take you long to hear the charge of hypocrisy leveled. Correct or incorrect, the perception in society is that the church has become a place of judgment and pretense. The church should be a place where it is ok to be imperfect, where we are loved simply because we are a child of God, and where judgment is reserved for God. Gregory Boyd writes, “we must never condition our love and acceptance of people with a judgment about how much or how little progress they are making in their relationship with God” (Repenting of Religion, 213). Yet how often is this exactly what takes place within the church? Members of the church should trust the power of the Holy Spirit to convict and correct sinful behaviors, and accountability should take place only in the context of community and relationship. When people see the church loving each other and loving them unconditionally just as Christ loved, they will see authenticity instead of hypocrisy.
Third, our world is in need of the transformational love of Christ. Somewhere along the lines, the evangelical movement allowed the social aspects of the gospel to be captured by the liberal church movement. A transformational church should be equally concerned with the “here and now” as we are with the “ever after.” A transformational church not only seeks to redeem the soul, but also to redeem our world. Routinely, churches invest 80-90% of their income back into the organization of the local church. What would happen instead if a church reinvested its time, its energy, and its resources into engaging problems such as ending hunger, healing the sick, promoting non-violence, ending abortion, and aiding in addiction recovery? We would see our world change.
Below are the blogs of some people who have expressed interest in being a part of The Gathering.