Church

I had a conversation last night with a friend about church; what church is, versus what church should be.  I fell asleep thinking about what it must have been like for the early Christians.

Right after Jesus ascended, as the early church was forming, there was such an excitement among the people who believed his message.  There is a comment in the book of Acts about how the believers gathered every day to eat together and fellowship.

I imagine it was like the release of the new iPhone.  When all those techy geeks couldn't help getting together to talk about their new toy, and compare applications, and share discoveries on how it worked and what it could do.  Everyone was talking about it, writing about it, excited about it.  The non techy's couldn't help but see that excitement and wonder if they shouldn't also have an iPhone.  I mean, if it was that great...

Now imagine 2000 years ago.  These people were living through a time of unrest.  They were being occupied by a government so powerful they couldn't do anything about it.  They were powerless to shield their children from seeing their own people being horrifically murdered on crosses lining the streets.  The most they could hope for was that the occupying army wouldn't destroy their temples or force them into breaking their own laws.  There were many/some/a few scholars who believed that the prophecies pointed to this time as being the time of the messiah.  There was supposed to be a liberator coming soon.  

There had already been a few attempts.  They had seen men come and go claiming to be the messiah.  These "messiahs" would be charismatic enough to gather large groups of followers, and inevitably their message would turn to revolution and liberation from Roman rule.  They would then be crucified for treason, their followers would all go home, and the whole thing would fade away.

And then came Jesus.  He was charismatic -- at least there was something about him that drew crowds.  He claimed to be the son of God, bringing salvation.  Somehow, though, Rome and the occupation never seemed to come up.  All he ever seemed to talk about was the character of a man.  He seemed much more concerned with the individual than the nation of Israel as a whole.  He talked on and on in riddles and stories about fictional characters.  Yet it seemed that every person in the audience connected with him.  Whatever random story he told seemed to be about them, or for them, or somehow related to them.

Even without the stories people came, though.  Sure it was cool to hear him speak, but he was healing people at the same time.  People near and far had heard about him restoring sight to the blind, healing cripples, touching lepers and healing them of this hideously deadly disease.  That was the interesting part.  He actually TOUCHED all these unclean people, who by law should be shunned.  Who wouldn't be interested in seeing a guy like that?

Granted, when his following got large enough, everyone WANTED him to start talking about revolution.  I mean, what was a messiah for if not to end this oppressive occupation?  Didn't the prophecies say he would save them?  But Jesus stubbornly refused to comply.  He always had some slippery answer that wasn't really an answer whenever someone brought up the subject.

And then he ended up dead.  Just like the rest of them.  Crucified, no less, which was even more humiliating and disturbing.  Enough people witnessed his death that the news spread like wildfire.  Those closest to him, his disciples, were at a loss.  What would they do now?  They had spent the last three years of their lives following him around and spreading his message.

Then the sightings began.  First Mary and Martha swear they saw him alive.  Then the disciples, then hundreds of people witness it.  He was alive?  How could that be?  But they had seen him with their own eyes, touched him with their own hands, and finally understood what the liberation and salvation was all about that he had talked endlessly about.

This was exciting!  How could you not be excited about seeing a dead guy alive again, and then SEEING him going up into the light?  So many people saw it that they couldn't very well ALL be dismissed as insane.  That, coupled with the amazing things he had said and done before he died made for interesting conversation.  How could you not get together to talk about this?  Add in the fear of ending up just like him if they were caught, and you have a group of people that TRULY believe that Jesus was the messiah, the christ.  You couldn't be a half-believer.  The risk of death was great.  Too great to be unclear about where you stood.

So this group of excited believers get together on a regular basis to talk about what they'd seen, who had witnessed what, how they had personally connected with the message Jesus brought.  Then, one day, as Peter is preaching this message, the holy spirit comes to them.  The spirit filled the room in a physical way.  Everyone could SEE the spirit hovering over everyone else, and all hell breaks loose (so to speak) as people start weeping, and laughing, and jabbering in languages they didn't know.  This was real.  It was something they could see.  It wasn't an "I think I've got the holy spirit" kind of thing.

And then the persecutions really ramped up, and the people scattered, sharing this amazing thing with anyone who would listen.  And as they spread, they gathered new groups that would come together on a regular basis, at least on the sabbath, and talk about this new experience.  This was joyful community.  They had everything in common with each other.  They believed something that could get them killed.  But how could they not when they could see every day, with their own eyes, the manifestations of love that resulted from this?

This church was a community.  They couldn't wait until their day of rest, or the end of their workday, so they could hang out together and share their hospitality and experiences.  They were so excited about what was happening in their lives, they couldn't shut up about it and mind their own business.  There was no doubt about the reality of what was happening; they could see the holy spirit come into a person, and witness the gifts that came with that.

This was noticed by outsiders.  This movement was noticed as far away as Rome itself.  People were drawn to this community of equality and belonging.

This is not how I see the church today.  Christianity is not exciting.  It is not about love and worship, equality and sharing.  When I think of Christians I think of hypocrisy and name-calling, exclusion and self-righteousness.  Who would be interested in joining that?  I'm not.