By Jannah
I feel like my mind has been spinning with thoughts from this class each day and I’m not sure what to do with them all. One of the things that has been on my mind frequently is the lack of interest in church. Our class responses showed a fairly positive view of the church, but as Rob pointed that out, I began to think about how many people I know who don’t like church and refuse to go. They might believe in God, but they haven’t found a church they like. Then there’s that whole long list of negatives that we’ve all heard at one point and have even thought ourselves. It’s made me think about the true reason why I go to church. Part of it is just habit, but mostly to learn about Jesus and be in fellowship with other believers. There is still, however, that aspect of going to church on Sundays and trying to live it out through the week, with church, unfortunately, remaining in the building despite our efforts. I don’t generally think of it as a movement that is a part of everyday, but as the place where we meet on Sundays.
I love Lesslie Newbigin’s idea of the church as “the provisional incorporation of humankind into Jesus Christ.” I think he pictures the church beautifully as a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. I also believe there are many people who get this, however, there are more who don’t. We are sent as Jesus was sent into the world for God’s mission, but the key is that GOD sends us. I wonder how a church would look if all this was incorporated; and there’s so much more that our normal view of the ‘church’ doesn’t even touch!
I think one of the primary problems in American Christianity is that people go to church thinking “What am I going to get out of this” instead of “How can I contribute to this”.