What is it?

The first time my daughter brought me a drawing, I humbly and carefully had to ask, "What is it?" She giggled, and responded, "Daaaad. It's a dog!"

Now, what I was looking at could have been a dog. Or a cat. Or pretty much any 4 legged creature with a tail and pointy ears. Over time, her art skills have gotten better, as have my interpretation skills. In the picture above, that is clearly a flower on the right. And a dog on the left. I think.

In this way, church is like art. It's open to interpretation. One person only sees church if a building, pews, hymns, and suits are present. Another sees church as a gathering of people who share a love of God and distaste of formality. Still another can see church in a coffee shop, bar or living room. Church may contain new music or old, any variety of displays of spirituality from prayer to speaking in tongues. And not everyone sees church in what we do.

Church is also like art in that it is not formulaic. Sure, there are liturgical churches that have a certain tyoe of formula, but that formula is not what makes it church. There is something...deeper and less obvious that makes it church.

For the purposes of our church, the Gate, there are three things that I desire to see in us as evidence that we are, in fact, a church.

A Place to Meet God
Simply put, if God doesn't show up, it is not church. We can sing songs, read the Bible, even pray, but if it is devoid of actual contact with God, it is nothing short of hypocrisy. We need to be sincere in our seeking of God, but we need to be equally expectant that we will see Him. If we do not have a spiritual connection with God most of the time we meet, then we are not a church.

An Evolving Community
Church must change. Not their core theology, but the manner in which they interact with themselves and those outside of their walls. As new people begin to spend time with us, their experiences and ours should begin to mingle and mix in such a way as create a new, more robust church personality. It's growth versus stagnation. We move or we die.

A Chance to Be the Church
Church is not something we do, it is who we are. We often fall into the way of thinking that someone else will take care of it. We let the seniors pay for it, they have the money. We let the middle-agers do the work, they have the strength and numbers. We let the younger folks do the kids' activities cuz they have the energy. Our church doesn't have luxury of assigning things to age groups. Our youngest attender is 18, our senior adult it 32. So, we have to be the church. We have to fill all the roles that arise: givers, evangelists, child care, leaders, etc. Church should not be a place that has a retirement plan. Nor should it be a place where you earn the right to work. You are born into church with that command.

Someday, you may walk into the Gate. You may see a bar that has young people singing about God in it. You may see the beer soaked floor, the Budweiser neon, and a stale smell to air. You may see a church.

I hope you'll see God. And be moved to grow with us and into Him.