It’s time to simplify

I enjoy gathering with friends in a corporate setting we call “church”, and though I am pro-Church (capital “C” to denote Body of Christ), I have a hard time being pro-church (lowercase “c” to denote the system of religion that has been created by man).

The church in Canada and North America has become a big business with much noise and sideshows that take away from two things; 1. Fellowship, loving and growing relationships with other believers and 2. spreading that love outside the walls to the community in which we live.

We cannot think we are serving God because we are serving a system. We can become so focussed on our “ministry” that we forget the point of the Gospel. We can put such a high importance on meeting for a church service and the busyness of ministry that we can miss out on time spent with reaching those around us. Let me give a couple of examples before you stop reading.

If we are missing church for selfish reasons, shame on us. Now, if we are too busy attending church all the time when a neighbour is crying out for fellowship, we have missed out on the opportunity to share the Gospel. How awful does it look to someone who is asking for fellowship and all we can say is “we are too busy to hang out”, or “we can’t because we are going to (another) church service”.

Once again, I love church and meeting together with other believers to worship, but I believe that the church system we are bound by puts such a high value on “church attendance” while it can miss the point or purpose of the Gospel, which is this; LOVING GOD AND LOVING PEOPLE.

I believe that things are changing in the church system.

We are too busy. I think back when life was simpler. A time when you couldn’t find a fence in a front yard and neighbours KNEW each other. Doing what we can to advance church “ministry” through programs is not as simple as fellowship (which is virtually FREE). How better to show love than to say to your neighbour, come over for a BBQ or a coffee. This doesn’t happen for the most part because we are too busy.

If we truly wanted to love our neighbour instead of growing a “ministry”, we would focus on those around us rather than praying for people to walk through the church doors.

Paul was never about growing his ministry. “Freely you have received, freely give.” We must simplify our lives in order to effectively share the Love of the Gospel.

The “church” building has always been a place for people to fellowship and worship. God always want to gather His people. This is because we are stronger together. We are only ever held back from fellowshipping and assembling together, because of selfishness.

Pro 18:1 One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.

We must not think that just because we are meeting with other believers to worship, we are fellowshipping. Fellowship is when you get to know those around you. Love is spelled “T I M E”. People need to see and understand that we are truly concerned about them and interested in them. Once again, I am not anti-Church, but the religious system is broken and we need to simplify our lives. We must never be too busy growing ministry programs that we cannot spend time reaching out to those around us.

Do you know the names of your neighbours? Do you know where they work? Do you know their kids names and what grades they are in?

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