Rethinking Church

February 5

(Acts 2:46 NIV) “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together…”

(2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV) "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"

(Ephesians 2:19-22 NIV) "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, {20} built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. {21} In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. {22} And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

(Hebrews 10:25 NIV) "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Togetherness is the natural result of being “one in Christ”. You can’t really “do” togetherness in an hour on Sunday morning -- it takes more time than that. The early Christians met together every day in the temple courts, and they “broke bread” together in smaller groups in their homes. They prayed together, studied together, worked together, ate together, played together, laughed together, and cried together. They were not only brothers and sisters, they became friends. They unyoked from those who did not believe, and became yoked together with Christ and with one another. For us to do this, we will need to rethink what we mean by “church”. We’ll need to see it less as a building or a meeting, and begin to see it as an existence and an identity. “Church” must become more than just a place or a doctrine. It must become “who we are”. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day