The party was great – hotdogs, hamburgers, squirt guns for the kids, dads trying to get charcoal lit, moms passing around Baby Hudson like he was a football. An interesting realization hit me about halfway through the party as I was flipping burgers. No one there with the exception of myself, Amber, and her parents were “church people”. I’m looking at these friends celebrating Jackson’s birthday and thinking to myself, “How did this happen?” Five years ago, our life revolved almost exclusively around church people. At that point in my life, I was clueless how to relate to anyone outside of that context, almost to the extent of being fearful and avoiding social situations where unchurched people would be present.
Some interesting reflections. I have often wondered what would happen if ‘chuch’ didn’t take up so much time and energy. I have a friend who at one point was a pastor, now he is not. It seems like he is able to ministry in a different way now. He has been able to shed the ‘churchiness’ and continue to reach out. At one point he said that it has taken five years, but now the neighbors are beginning to open up.
There are times when I wonder what life would be like if we could create a new type of church culture. One that isn’t focused on buildings and budgets but rather living an authentic life marked by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. What would happen to our communities if church ceased being about a ‘great meeting’ once a week and became the conversations we had with those around us and the time we spent with them.
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