What Happened to the Church?

In college, I was very involved in a ministry called the Baptist Student Ministry. We would gather for Bible Studies, for worship through music , for dinner. We would spend time together outside the walls of the building, many of us became roommates in our years at A&M. We would talk as much about theology as we did about Aggie football (back when it was, you know, good). They were people I could share secrets with, people who would share advice and ask it in return. People I trusted my life to. Running into them on a trek across campus would bring us mutual smiles, and a conversation to follow.

I was repeatedly informed that the BSM, as we called it, was not meant to be our church, so go find one.

I tried numerous churches. Many of them looked the same, with different music and slightly different styles of teaching. I would stick with one for a while, but the connection just never seemed to be there. Some of these churches had huge college ministries, but there were already developed groups within these ministries, and the church at large had little to do with the students. I eventually found a church that I loved, stuck with it and ended landing an internship and ultimately being an interim youth and college guy there.

From there I went into the ministry and served with several churches. Each one was a lot like the ones I went to in college, again with a difference in teaching and music styles. But I noticed a trend. Even though the churches I served in were in small towns, that deeper sense of community I felt at the BSM was not there. Sure, they knew each other, maybe a little too well, but it never went deep when it came to their faith. It became a very big problem for me.

See, I had seen Acts 2:42-47 in action, not with the churches I served, but with that group of college believers that lived with, learned with, grew with. We prayed deeply with each other, where most churches I knew of went through their weekly list and that was it. We talked about God and the Bible at a depth greater than what I got at seminary, the churches I knew talked about the high school teams with the proficiency of ESPN announcers. About twenty of my BSM friends drove an hour and a half to my Dad's funeral ( a man they had never met), most churches would drive in their casserole.

I'm not saying these things that churches do are bad- but they are far less than best.

It wasn't until probably four or five years after I graduated college that I really understood why I easily loved the BSM, and struggled to love the churches I attended. There was an organic nature to what we did as college students. We met together out of hunger, desire, passion, and genuine love for Christ and each other- that was ALL that drew us together. Many churches are drawn together because of these things, too, but they are in addition to family tradition, convenience and preference of styles.

Acts 2 tells us that the early church was birthed out of an awesome shared experience that brought people of a multitude of nations together. They came to know Christ, and all their differences faded into a commonality of love for Him. I saw a glimpse of that as a college student, and I strive and pray to see that again with our church today. And I don't think that any church is too far gone to get back to that- if they want to take the risk of letting each other in.

The deepest community of believers I have ever known was in my life ten years ago. What about you, when did you know true fellowship, true connection and belonging with other believers? I want to know that again, but deeper, longer, truer. What about you?