The Church Has Left The Building
Here’s the thing… the church didn’t just leave the building a few months ago when many of us were without an option to worship corporately. At my church, Mill City Church we got the news on Friday March 13th that the school where we worship suspended our license indefinitely starting immediately.
Sure, someone made this t-shirt because of COVID and my husband knew I’d love it. But the church… or maybe better put… the people of God, or the followers of Jesus stopped being held hostage by a building a long time ago.
You could argue it was when the veil was torn in the temple when Jesus took his last breath… or when Jesus came back to life and breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and they were empowered. But regardless of exactly when, the truth remains – the building is no longer a place where one must go to be in God’s presence and join God’s work in the world.
God has left the building.
God is moving in our midst and in our every day spaces. Buildings can’t contain the power of God’s Spirit.
It seems as though buildings have come to hold us hostage yet again.
I feel it when our small equipping and office space floods because of another faulty sump pump – and of course I feel it in this season when we realize that we can’t socially distance with 200+ people in any space available to us right now.
Don’t get me wrong – I love worshipping corporately! It’s critical for us all! I think I’ve found a great option for the fall for our community to gather in a way that is safe for those who feel comfortable.
But we must remember that the building, and even the worship service – is NOT the mission of the church.
These are vehicles for God’s mission- just like small groups, missional communities, our “digital neighborhoods” and our “equipping hour”. They aren’t the church – they are a container for us to be the church. The writer of Hebrews is often quoted, “let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”
I do want to say – Look how creative we have all been in “not giving up meeting together” – from zoom, to Facebook, to YouTube and drive-in worship! It’s not easy, but we are doing it people!
But don’t confuse the meeting as the mission.
In fact, right before that famous quote from Hebrews is this:
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” – Hebrews 10:23-25
Meeting together helps us get equipped and encouraged for the mission but the context of that passage reminds us of the actual mission – love and good deeds!
- The mission of the church is to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
- To join in God’s right-making where injustice seems to prevail.
- To SHARE the love of Jesus, SHOW the love of Jesus and let people know it’s available to them too – no matter what they’ve done or what has been done to them.
- To pray for God’s healing, restoration, mercy and love to flow through us to those around us.
- To love our neighbors as ourselves – our actual geographical neighbors, or co-workers, but also the foreigner and the stranger. Our neighbor is those with whom we disagree, as well as our poverty stricken neighbor, our oppressed neighbor, all people bear the image of God – so we are called to love the whole world as Jesus did.
To live this mission, I do think we must not give up meeting together.
But then you better believe we must get up and get out of that building and get going.
Because there is plenty to do to join God’s mission in EVERY single space we find ourselves through out the week! We can’t change the world on our own – but if we join God’s work and movement in the world – we absolutely will.
Here’s the thing… the church didn’t just leave the building a few months ago when many of us were without an option to worship corporately. At my church, Mill City Church we got the news on Friday March 13th that the school where we worship suspended our license indefinitely starting immediately.
Sure, someone made this t-shirt because of COVID and my husband knew I’d love it. But the church… or maybe better put… the people of God, or the followers of Jesus stopped being held hostage by a building a long time ago.
You could argue it was when the veil was torn in the temple when Jesus took his last breath… or when Jesus came back to life and breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and they were empowered. But regardless of exactly when, the truth remains – the building is no longer a place where one must go to be in God’s presence and join God’s work in the world.
God has left the building.
God is moving in our midst and in our every day spaces. Buildings can’t contain the power of God’s Spirit.
It seems as though buildings have come to hold us hostage yet again.
I feel it when our small equipping and office space floods because of another faulty sump pump – and of course I feel it in this season when we realize that we can’t socially distance with 200+ people in any space available to us right now.
Don’t get me wrong – I love worshipping corporately! It’s critical for us all! I think I’ve found a great option for the fall for our community to gather in a way that is safe for those who feel comfortable.
But we must remember that the building, and even the worship service – is NOT the mission of the church.
These are vehicles for God’s mission- just like small groups, missional communities, our “digital neighborhoods” and our “equipping hour”. They aren’t the church – they are a container for us to be the church. The writer of Hebrews is often quoted, “let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”
I do want to say – Look how creative we have all been in “not giving up meeting together” – from zoom, to Facebook, to YouTube and drive-in worship! It’s not easy, but we are doing it people!
But don’t confuse the meeting as the mission.
In fact, right before that famous quote from Hebrews is this:
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” – Hebrews 10:23-25
Meeting together helps us get equipped and encouraged for the mission but the context of that passage reminds us of the actual mission – love and good deeds!
- The mission of the church is to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
- To join in God’s right-making where injustice seems to prevail.
- To SHARE the love of Jesus, SHOW the love of Jesus and let people know it’s available to them too – no matter what they’ve done or what has been done to them.
- To pray for God’s healing, restoration, mercy and love to flow through us to those around us.
- To love our neighbors as ourselves – our actual geographical neighbors, or co-workers, but also the foreigner and the stranger. Our neighbor is those with whom we disagree, as well as our poverty stricken neighbor, our oppressed neighbor, all people bear the image of God – so we are called to love the whole world as Jesus did.
To live this mission, I do think we must not give up meeting together.
But then you better believe we must get up and get out of that building and get going.
Because there is plenty to do to join God’s mission in EVERY single space we find ourselves through out the week! We can’t change the world on our own – but if we join God’s work and movement in the world – we absolutely will.