From the age of the apostles through today, church gatherings have always been a complex expression of the interplay between the Christian community and the surrounding community—and a reflection of the attendees’ time and culture.
Our ideas about doing church—and even our ideas about what it means to be a community of believers—change over time.
The world doesn’t end at the top of the church steps. It flows through the sanctuary like a swirling, invisible mist surrounding worshipers who come through the doors with doubts, fears, and thoughts informed by their experiences on the other six days.
In the Christian church, we bring our world into our gatherings so that we can make sense of it together through our shared faith. Our time gathered together needs to feel like a living part of our week, not something altogether different from our everyday lives. Otherwise, the whole thing feels alien and false.
Our intentions need to be more than well-intentioned. They need to be purposeful. Church needs to change—as it has in this and in every generation—to remain relevant.
One day we will "do church" differently than we do now. And that’s how it should be. Pursuing our relationship as a community is the point of Christian community. The world today is social and interactive. We want to participate in a conversation, not sit still for a lecture.
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