Skip to main content

Home or School

I went to a church that shut down every July. The sabbatical served two major purposes.  First the staff was ensured a respite every year. Secondly, members were encouraged to visit other churches.  


The practice welcomed three unconventional possibilities. Members were commissioned to share our church's strengths with other churches; and/or, conversely, members could glean strengths from others to bring back home in August.  Lastly, should one visit another church and feel more at home elsewhere, members were free to prayerfully explore making a more permanent change.


An endless discussion could be had regarding the need for ministerial rest, but I want to touch on the refreshing philosophy of not being obsessed with church attendance. 


My current pastor seems utterly unconcerned with church numbers. Furthermore the man he is on stage is exactly the man he is at home and everywhere else. That is not to say he doesn't present well. On the contrary, he embodies discipline, structure, and is a noteworthy speaker.


In the modern church, I have noticed an imbalance between ideologies. Church leadership can portray an over exaggerated image of nonconformity that usually breeds a lack of excellence, just as the opposite can be said.


Truly relying on God versus the approval of man for clergy and lay people alike actually produces freedom not extremism. 


Freedom allows some churches to feel like home, and others to be more about equipping for the final destination.  A mark of this liberty is the support of existing and the release of new ministries.


In the quest for belonging and healthy attachment it's important to remember: more than just two options exist. Some places are for a season and maybe even teaching.  We must use discernment and not fall into the traps of misplaced loyalty or offense.


If a place of former comfort no longer seems as welcoming, don't deny your experience. Prayerfully ask the Lord why your feelings have changed. 


Perhaps what you assumed was home, was really school.


Are there any changed feelings you need to pray about?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revisting: If I Were a Bird & The Season of the Ox

Today I'm revisting two posts from June of this year. My regular devotional reading has me back in Ezekiel and back to the four living creatures. With the Hebrew calendar ending in September, today was the first day I asked the Lord for my word for this upcoming Hebrew year. All things considered, I felt it necessary to revist these posts. Now, I know of at least one dream that was not from the Lord. I'm not sure I am done learning about the ox, but I've learned a little.  If I were a Bird Recently I had three separate people, in three distinct settings begin a thought with, "If I were a bird."  Bizarre, right? At the first comment, I began to joyfully hear Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" song in my head. By the third comment, in a matter of just forty-eight hours, I was curious. I could not recall ever hearing anyone share such a thought before, and then to have a few in a short matter of time had me wondering. Seemed either an odd coincidence...
Post a Comment
Read more

Revisting: Never Ignore

Today, we are revisting a post from July 13, 2023. One thing we can count on is changing emotions. One day we deal with intense anger, the next extreme apathy. Our emotions may not be wise, but they are telling. Never Ignore I came cruising into my day refreshed and ready to go. Then, I experienced anger. Someone's misinformation inconvenienced my easy, breezy day.  Anger is one of those emotions I find less becoming than others. I was trying to calm myself down when Holy Spirit reminded me that I was not designed to reconcile my emotions on my own. In the past, I have fallen prey to ignoring and stuffing my emotions, but nowadays, I am more likely to try and reconcile my emotions on my own. Perhaps when I have "figured out" what needs to change, I then might go to God to request said changes. Today, I managed to be reminded that God likes us to come to Him raw. In the heat of anger or depths of despair, He wants to be invited into what we are feeling, thinking, and exper...
Post a Comment
Read more

Resisting: Wisdom & Worth

This week's revisited archived post is from May 26, 2023.  Yesterday I finished the short series Howard's End . The main character, Margaret Schlegel, gives a beautiful explanation of worth in regard to her marriage choice. Margaret's wise words to her sister, "I do not intend to correct him, or reform him. Only connect. That is the whole of my sermon. I have not undertaken to fashion a husband to suit myself using Henry's soul as raw materials." Wisdom & Worth Wedding season is peaking! What better book to read than the Song of Solomon in a month full of marriage? The book of poems is rather sensual for biblical times and reflects God's intense desire for us, His bride; but there is more... Interestingly, the Song of Solomon is considered one of the five books of wisdom and, more specifically, one of the three books of Solomon's wisdom.   In chapter two the bride says, "My lover has arrived and he's speaking to me!" (MSG) What is He ...
1 comment
Read more