What do I want in a church?

I know what I don’t want, and from that observation I do know what I do want:

I want to hear the meta-narrative, the Kingdom of God, being preached from someone who studied the bible with persistence.

I want to worship in response to that Revelation.

I want to pray with and for God-hearers and God-doers.

That is want I want. I really don’t care if it is in a Cathedral or a storefront. I don’t care if it is across the street or across town. It does not matter that much to me if the teacher is ordained, wearing a robe, in blue jeans, young or old. I really have no preference concerning the size of the church or the style of the service. What I want it to hear from God and gather with people who share that hunger. I want to see young people and old people, but real people. I want to be with people of different colors and cultures, but with a common craving for the heart of God.

I want to hear the Word, I want to worship and I want to do it with a community that takes both seriously.

I know what I want.

Is this what you want?

A community of faith that intercedes for me after experiencing authentic worship as a response to the Word is something I want from a church.

I just might need someone to pray with me.

You see… I want to be with people I can just turn to and say, “I need prayer” without feeling they are going to think I am strange. I want someone who knows that prayer for each other is one of the best ways we can share our lives together. I love feeling someone’s hand on my shoulder and hearing them pray for me without even asking. It reminds me of what it really means to be one body, one church, in relationship with a living and loving father.

Is that what you want?

You want to know what else I want?

After hearing the word of God, the story of his restorative Kingdom, being preached boldly to a community longing to hear it, I want some time to absorb what I have just encountered.

I don’t want to just jump up and run out.

I want a worship leader to take me deeper in my response to the Word, to the prompting of the Spirit of the Living God. I want time to repent – the word “repent” means “to change my mind.” I want my mind renewed; I need to reflect on what I have heard. I want the kind of worship leader that knows it’s more than a “set list” and leading the band; it’s turning people’s faces to the face of God. It’s giving God what God is seeking: worship.

Sometimes it’s as brief as a blink, sometimes it is more like melting a glacier.

If worship is responding rightly to Revelation, then I want to worship.

I do not mean just sing a song, although it might be a song, or it might be a prayer. It might be that I need to raise my hands in surrender and agreement. It might be I need to get on my knees, right then and there; it might mean I need to get on my face, not later but now, in humility and with unhindered abandon. And I hunger to gather with people who feel the freedom to do the same.

Is worship as a response of Revelation what you want?

I have been working through what I want from a church, inspired by a recent vacation in Florida with Jody over a Sunday I wasn’t teaching. Starting with the things I know I don’t want from a church I have found a few things I do want starting with how and what is being taught.

I want to hear someone open the Bible to a passage of Scripture that they have prayed over, meditated on, researched and marinated in. I want to hear what they learned, I want to hear what they discovered, I want to hear not just the results of their research, not just an academic lecture, but what they have heard from God. I want to know how this passage has impacted the church, not just this church, but the church historic.

I want to know how this passage intersects with the context of the whole of Scripture – where does this fit in the meta-narrative of Scripture, the Kingdom of God. I want to know how this passage has convicted and comforted the people that have gone before me, the communion of the Saints. I want to know what this passage meant in it’s orginal context to the ones God gave it. What were their circumstances and how did this passage shape them? I want to sit with a Bible in my hand, and look into that Word and listen for that voice deep in my soul that speaks to me though His Word.

I treasure that voice, it seldom screams, it most often whispers, but it is real as the skin I am in. I want to sit with a gathering of people who also long to hear that voice. I want to look around and see that same longing on their faces I feel in my heart. I want to look across the room and see people with old Bibles that are falling apart, new bibles with pages that are still stuck together, techies with Bibles on their iphones, and people who are just trying to figure it out but sense there is something going on here that is more than a history lesson, more than a lecture, more than a pep talk. I want an encounter with God Himself.

Then I want to see this same person who has been marinating in this passage to challenge us all with how this connects to today and tomorrow. I want to hear what they have heard the Spirit speak; I want to hear that prophetic voice.

Is that what you want?

When thinking about what I want in a church it occurred to me that I was really contemplating another question, easier to answer: “What do I not want.”

Kind of like, when it comes time to choose a restaurant, someone asks, “Where do you want to eat?” The answer sounds easy, but not even close.

“Anywhere.” comes the answer.
“How about burgers?” you say.
“I’m not thinking burgers.” is the reply.
“How about Subway?” you say.
“Had that Thursday.” comes the answer.
Someone starts naming places, and your realize all you really know is what you don’t want.

When it comes to church, I know what I am not looking for.

I have no passion to sit with people lined up in pews, sing three hymns and listen to a sermon with three points and a poem. I have no yearning to hear someone’s idea of a religious pep talk, with a few movie clips thrown in to prove they are culturally relevant. I have no desire to listen to a Christian concert put on by a hand-full of rock band wannabes. It’s not that I mind hymns, poems or relevant movie clips, and I certainly enjoy a good band. But, unlike finding a place to eat, I do know exactly what I want in a church gathering.

Sometimes we need to look at what we don’t want in order to understand what we really do want…

One of the greatest gifts in life is being a father.

Father’s day can be tough for those of you who might not have a good example of what a Father looks like. I want you to know we at Grace believe that one of the greatest gifts Jesus gave to us is a glimpse of the character of our perfect heavenly Father. Our Father invites us into a relationship where we can ask and he will give in abundance. He is a father who loves with relentless pursuit to see your life thrive in His Kingdom.

Tomorrow, take some time to be with the Father. Here are some scriptures to get you started:

Jesus came from the Father | John 1:14
Jesus came to reveal the Father | John 5:19
A story about a forgiving and loving father | Luke 15:20
The Holy Spirit is a gift from our Father | John 14:16
Praying to the Father | Luke 11:2

Don’t forget to tell Dad thanks! See you tomorrow…

You might be here from Q. I want to welcome you. I talked a little bit about our journey with engaging the Muslim World. Here is a simple tool we use to teach that Jesus is the way we get into the Kingdom of God. Hope you find it useful!

This week at Q I will be talking about my story, and our church’s story, as he have journeyed through the Muslim World. Generation Salaam is an organization I founded that we hope will begin conversations of peace between Muslims and Christians by engaging in our scriptures.

Click the link below… I invite you into our journey…

www.generationsalaam.com