Being The Church

Sitting in a Starbucks at 9:25am on Sunday and I have to tell everyone about something. I'm witnessing one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a while. When I walked in an hour and a half ago, these 5 men, maybe between 30-40 years old, were sitting around a few small tables talking. As the hour passed and the podcast I was listening to ended, I was able to hear their conversation. These men are sharing their lives together and encouraging one another. One man just shared some struggles about feeling useless in his job; like he wasn't making a difference. The other 4 men fought for his heart, spoke truth to him, and affirmed what God is doing through him in the young men he's working with. When the guy appoligized for taking up more time on him, they all insisted, "no, we care about you. you are not a burden. you are a treasure. we love you."

The guilt of religion tells these men they need to be in a church building singing songs right now. They chose to say no, we will be the church at Starbucks, or wherever they live out the model set out by the early church (teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer) rather than going to a building we have blindly dubbed "church."

I think at the core we all long for a group of people who know us intimately, whom we know intimately, and who regularly fights for our hearts and helps us connect with Father. How beautiful it is to see it lived out.