corrupted corporate worship - part 2
"Anyone who is to find Christ must first find the church. How could anyone know where Christ is and what faith is in him unless he knew where his believers are?
Martin Luther
What does the idea of Christian community mean when we think of the word "Corporate" in Christian Corporate Worship?
As I looked at what is required to create an
authentic and meaningful experience in response to Paul’s injunction to come together
in Hebrews 10:25 I realized it would be helpful for me to ponder some key elements of the ideal Christian
Community.
Acts 2:42-47
The Message (MSG)
41-42 That day about three thousand took
him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to
the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the
prayers. 43-45 Everyone around was in awe—all those
wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a
wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned
and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met. 46-47 They followed a daily discipline of
worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration,
exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they
saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.
-------------
I want to consider seven key elements that help make up both the
early Christian Community and also what makes up the Christian communities where I have felt that deep sense of Corporate Worship.
- Joining together
- Studying together
- Living together
- Eating together
- Praying together
- Playing together
- Paying together
1.
Joining Together
Am I able to meaningfully and publicly join myself to a
community of Christians? To be “known”
as one of them? For eons the act of public solidarity was an essential element
of a community’s existence and an individual’s identity. In this age of endless
choice and individual free time, we have become inured to the wonder of
choosing only a few powerfully self-identifying communities to belong to. Have we publicly aligned ourselves with the community we Worship
2.
Studying Together
Who
do I study with? In which community do I become vulnerable enough to admit my
ignorance and fallibility? In the age of Wikipedia, Podcasts and Google Search the need
to come together for mutually beneficial support in the act of learning and the growth of our self-awareness can easily seem redundant. But the very act of admitting
ignorance can free us from the shackles of the pretense we drag around in our vain
attempts to project confidence and competency while we agonize inside over the
fear of our own perceived inadequacies. Do we study with the community we worship with?
3.
Living Together
In
the commuter existence of the developed world the experience of living together
has become the bumping into people for brief encounters that are too often
devoid of depth. When the virtual world of the information technology’s super
highway is where we exist then our experience of living with others becomes
literally a Virtual experience. There is something profound about choosing to
raise a family in one place and accepting the limitations that choice places upon
you. When I choose to confine myself to a geographical local then I am
literally placing boundaries on where I can practice living and whom I can
practice that living with.
4.
Eating Together
The
act of sharing a meal with others has well documented psychological and
physical benefits. We are social creatures and our digestive health benefits
from taking the time to chew our food thoroughly, eating in a relaxed frame of
mind because the company is conducive to a sense of well being and a relaxed
digestive track. We now fight to share a meal with others. Even our nuclear
family units wrestle to carve out enough time to eat together. Do we eat with those we worship with?
5.
Praying Together
I
have a Buddhist Prayer stool that sits on a prayer mat that looks vaguely
Islamic in nature. I received that hand made stool from a South African in
Germany. I developed the habit of using it for prolonged prayer by being with a
group of men from many nations and praying every Thursday morning for an hour.
We began each of those sessions with a period of silence, and when enough time had
passed to carve a silent sanctuary in the room we poured our hearts out to our
God. I’ve long held that one of the most uncomfortable and also intimate things
men can do together is for us to pray with our guard down. Do we take the time to pray with the community we Worship with?
6.
Playing Together
To
find yourself in a place so relaxing and safe that you would devote time for
Play says a lot about that place and that group of people. This is another
realm where technology has often robbed us of the necessity to be with others
if we want to play. Now I can interact with hundreds of people and never meet
them, never have to get to know them. I remember a poker game this year where I played poker with a young man from a local congregation that I had met repeatedly at that church. We’d known each
other for a while but until that night I’d never known how sharp a sense of
humor he possessed. That night of play left me sad that I wouldn't have enough opportunities
of Play to actually have him in my life in that way. Do we play with those we Worship with?
7.
Paying Together
There
are some people who could ask and I would give them half of my last dollar, and
if their need were greater than my capacity to give, then I’d give them the
whole dollar and then I’d go and borrow more dollars for them. To be in
community requires me to willingly and gladly unlatch the door to my financial storeroom, and be
willing to ensure everyone in my community has all they needed to survive. My wife
and I set aside a portion of what we intend to give away and earmark it for unplanned
giving to the communities we are part of, if someone we know there has entered an emergency and have need of
financial succor. Would we gladly pay for those we Worship with?
This
is what I think it meant to be in a Christian community 2,000 years ago. I’ve also had the amazing privilege to have experienced this kind of holistic Christian community
and so I know just how priceless it is to be part of such a group of people. When we came together the time spent doing those seven things I listed on a regular basis created the Corporate part of the Worship. We came together not because we had to, but because we loved being with one another and genuinely felt safe around one another and we felt known by one another. We were one. It was hard to break that community feeling for it was forged in hours and hours of living together and building trust and love for one another.
My wife and I are slowly working to become part of such a community again. The years of travel, work and immigration have made that a difficult task. We have many dear friends within many Christian communities but I feel I haven't built the same level of intimacy with any one community here whereby I could feel confident to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who gather there and say I am known by, and I know those who I stand beside, behind and before me.
What do you think of my concept of community?
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