I just started reading Philip Gulley's book, If the Church Were Christian. Just the introduction, to be precise. It strikes me that so many people are looking for simple, authentic communities of people who follow Jesus, but are having a hard time finding what they are looking for. (Please don't break into a U2 song at this point.)
I am assuming most of you know that I minister with a small church in urban Houston. I say "small" not because of our actual size, but because of relative contextual comparisons. In most of the world, we would simply be considered a normal sized church. But considering that just down the road is a stadium where people buy tickets to go to church, and that down the road in a different direction is a mega-church locals affectionately refer to as "Six Flags Over Jesus," well, one might look at our gatherings and use the word "small." That's fine. I don't mind.
Back to Gulley's introduction: One particular paragraph struck me as particularly poignant. Evidently some people who read Gulley's earlier books suggested that he might start a new denomination, a "pure" one, no bells and whistles. Just simple Christian church. Gulley gave three reasons as to why he declined their invitations:
"I found community with my own church satisfying; I had no confidence in my ability to create a pure Christianity after thirty-nine thousand denominations had tried and failed; and I feared that being a key figure in a new movement would expand my head and shrink my heart."
We spend an inordinate amount of money in the American church trying to be state-of-the-art and cool. But what if we poured more of our efforts into being places where real community takes place? What if we could be "small" gatherings where people say things like, "I found community with my own church satisfying."
I'm discovering that most churches are uniquely gifted in making things harder than they have to be. But this is not that difficult. It's just not. Gather in the name of Jesus. Don't gossip. Listen to one another. Cultivate peace and joy. Name injustices. Repeat.
Wow. That sounds hard.
Gulley had me at the title. No doubt about it. I wonder where he is going with it. I am guessing it has something to do with simplifying. I'll keep you posted.
