Father, there is a stirring in my soul
that began years ago about who You really are
and how that reality can be shown
to the people in our town,
in our world.
Even in America
most of our children's friends
have no experiences with belief in You
that affects choices
and how life is lived on a daily basis.
My generation had parents who loved us,
or grandparents who could bring us home to faith
when we were buffeted by life.
For my children's generation
there isn't even a grandparent.
They, too, are often divorced
and fragmented with no stability.
This generation of kids
creates their own pseudo-family relationships
because they are so starved for belonging.
This may be living with a boyfriend,
hanging out with groups of other damaged kids,
or following some strange spirituality
in order to belong somewhere, anywhere.
I go to church,
and though I am so familiar
and comfortable with the form
because I've grown up with it,
I am not comfortable
that all the houses we pass to get there--
even if we go the back roads through the country--
are full of people who are working in their yards,
yelling at their kids,
or sleeping in 'til noon.
Church shouldn't just be a place we go.
It should be something we are to those
who are detached from our Sunday morning,
the ones across the street,
at our workplace,
the university,
the office,
the parent-teacher conferences.
What should being church look like?
Maybe like a backyard cookout?
A coffee house on Tuesday midmorning
after the kids are delivered to school?
A hunting trip?
A girls' night out at the cabin in the woods?
A bonfire after soccer?
When the Body of Christ is there, isn't church
anywhere discussions are taking place about Jesus in our lives
and what the Bible says about our source of joy?
Isn't it breaking bread together-
even if that bread is a hot dog bun-
if His Body is present?
I have a feeling church isn't just something we "go to";
it should be the folks themselves
who go from our gathering times
refreshed and inspired
to give themselves away
for something that lasts forever.
Are You troubling me, Lord?
Is there something You're crowding me into?
