Blog on the Lillypad
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
The meeting with the pastor went very well. Of course, he wants me in church---even if it's not our church. He went through some Scripture with me to show me that Christ has appointed the assembling of ourselves as the means He chooses to meet with us. I don't agree with this sentiment to the extent that he took it. I don't think church in and of itself is a sacramental transaction, (hence I don't have a problem with a sabbatical under the supervision of the eldership), but I do think we believers are meant to be members of an assembley that preaches the Word of God faithfully, administers the sacraments (both of them) biblically, and administers church discipline.
The fact that most churches omit numbers one and three and often two is a pointer to the fact that so many people are alienated from church. It has become a social entity but has lost its relevence and pertinence to a lot of people. He agreed with this assessmnt but took me back to the undeniable fact that we start addressing the problem from within.
He is a kind and godly man and he listened to my side of the story, and even agreed with a lot of the problems I raised. We agreed that there really is very little fellowship available to me at the church. In the end, I promised him I would go to any church that popped up during my sabbatical and give it a try, but I've visited a lot of churches in this area already, and I'm not going to get back on that carousel. I'm not going to go hunt for a church again. I will put the matter into God's Hands, so that God can direct me. (But I think God is fine with my choice of taking a ssabbatical; I think the time favors solitude for the next several months.) The pastor told me he would try to think of some churches that might be more aligned with my type of outreach. So we parted with better understanding on both sides.
I do present something of a problem. I'm a single, Christian Fundamentalist/Evangelical, five point Calvinist, fourth degree black belt, single woman who studies astrology and is convinced of the divine inspiration of the Bible. I can see that I don't quite fit the mold anywhere I go. But I'm not going to apologize for it any more.
The fact that most churches omit numbers one and three and often two is a pointer to the fact that so many people are alienated from church. It has become a social entity but has lost its relevence and pertinence to a lot of people. He agreed with this assessmnt but took me back to the undeniable fact that we start addressing the problem from within.
He is a kind and godly man and he listened to my side of the story, and even agreed with a lot of the problems I raised. We agreed that there really is very little fellowship available to me at the church. In the end, I promised him I would go to any church that popped up during my sabbatical and give it a try, but I've visited a lot of churches in this area already, and I'm not going to get back on that carousel. I'm not going to go hunt for a church again. I will put the matter into God's Hands, so that God can direct me. (But I think God is fine with my choice of taking a ssabbatical; I think the time favors solitude for the next several months.) The pastor told me he would try to think of some churches that might be more aligned with my type of outreach. So we parted with better understanding on both sides.
I do present something of a problem. I'm a single, Christian Fundamentalist/Evangelical, five point Calvinist, fourth degree black belt, single woman who studies astrology and is convinced of the divine inspiration of the Bible. I can see that I don't quite fit the mold anywhere I go. But I'm not going to apologize for it any more.
