NOW! Living Bold – Entry 3: Brothers in Arms

Church is not a building – it’s you and me.

FIRST LET ME ESTABLISH A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND:
The biggest sham that evil has done to God’s people is convince them that church is what happens once per week inside of a neatly constructed “safe” building. If you ask any man of cloth ( a fancy way of saying preacher… or priest ), they will agree with the statement that church is not buildings…it’s people. But if you ask any of the “cloth guys” (or gals) what they use to measure success… they’ll tell you that it’s the number of non-believers who are converted to believers. Now ask that same question to the “search committees” (the team that hires and fires preachers) in the vast majority of church buildings across the Christian community, and they will tell you it is attendance. Regardless of what your men of cloth say… they are hired and fired based on the ability or lack thereof to drive up attendance on Sunday mornings. It’s now a popularity contest and that disgusts me.

Definitions that you will need to know for reading this entry: (There is a big difference)

(1) church (with a small “c”) is a building… an institution… an entry on an IRS non-profit form. It’s the general term we use when referring to a weekly gathering in a building.

(2) Church (with a capital “C”) is the living breathing worldwide body of Jesus Christ established by His death, burial, and resurrection. It has no walls, no boundaries, and is collective of every faithful person who accepts His call to unite.

So what does the whole “church” thing have to do with Living Bold? Well man… you know that it’s widely accepted that ‘no man can exist as an island unto himself’. Christ recognized and teaches in scripture that “where two or more are gathered in His name… His spirit dwells with them”. The early Christians who sacrificed their life to spread the word of hope were smart enough to go out in pairs. Let me state this very plainly: YOU CANNOT LIVE A BOLD FAITH BY YOURSELF. Don’t try it, you will fail. Even nature follows this course. When the coyote’s want to eat something big… like a bear… they travel as a pack. They attack in sequence. The wounded gather themselves while the healthy attack again and again. The bear has no chance. You my friend, as big and bad as you want to be… you cannot do it alone. This is where Church comes into the picture. The Church gives us accountability and fellowship with people who have been where you are and found a way out of the hole. The only trouble is that it takes a keen eye to navigate church congregations to know who’s real and who’s phony. So I suggest you connect up with a few Brothers in Arms who are trying to Live Bold and keep each other’s back clear.

Men are diving out of church services faster than Speedy Gonzales chasing cheese. For a majority of us men, church services are boring, it doesn’t challenge us, and speaks in a language we just don’t quite “get”. In my own church congregation, we have about 1,600 members. Of that number, about 700 attend services more than 50% of the time. Of the 700… about 120 of them are men. On any given “normal” event where men are called to gather or supply man power… you can expect about 20 guys to drive the effort. (do the math) These numbers are normal… and they are consistent across church congregations throughout the United States.

Like many of you, I’m terribly disappointed that our church leaders have placed their spines on the top shelf in the closet. It’s no surprise that the fastest growing church congregations in America are ones that have very strong leaders who don’t put up with a bunch of crap. It should be no surprise that our culture is starting to decay and wreak because our church congregations are cowering down to political pressure and political correctness.

A few questions to ponder:

If you don’t attend church services… why not? Is it lame? Boring? Non-relevant? Too touchy feely? Too much talking? Too much holding hands and kum-ba-ya? Or is it the tambourines?

If you do attend church services… why? Tradition? Something you’ve always done? For your kids? For your wife? For business purposes? Social pressures? To be seen?

If you go to church… you are likely to find a very safe environment that “protects” us from the outrageous slings and arrows of misfortune…quite opposite from the origin of the Church. The entire book of ACTS in the Bible is full of accounts of men who got out on the edge and did not let death stop them from digging in their heels. They stood firm for what they believed in… and they established our tie to the Christian Church with their blood, sweat, and sacrifice. They were willing to die so that you and I would understand how important Christ is to our life.

The church building is a place where Christians gather to worship God. I honor the institution and I am thankful that it exists. But let me tell you that Church is what happens when you and I gather together in Christ Jesus’ name in a parking lot, in a tent, in a deer camp, on the golf course, in a boat, at business meeting, at lunch, in the coffee house… get the point? Worship is what goes on inside that pretty building you visit 2 times a month (more or less). Don’t let a lame church service turn you away from experiencing Church! It’s too important.

Start Living Bold NOW! Get a few guys together and start hanging together in Christ Jesus’ name. You don’t need a secret handshake or a study guide… just gather. When you do this my friends, you have built up the body of the Church. Understand me clearly when I say this: Gathering for the sake of “getting out of the house” is just guys hanging out. Gathering with the idea that Christ will be honored with your lips… is Church.

Do this first. And when the time is right, you’ll start seeking out a worship service at a church building. God will change your heart and you will crave communion and fellowship with Him.

Living Bold is not going to church buildings once a week and putting in your time. Living Bold is lining up as a crew of guys on an Offensive Line… protecting your faith, your family, and your community at all costs. Don’t let evil through the line… protect your quarterback!

Don’t write off your faith and call it weak when you haven’t even attempted to make it work. Your challenge is to find a couple of guys you trust and carve out one day a week where you can get together and “hang out”. Don’t worry about what to say… that will come. Just be honest… be authentic… be real.

What happens after this will absolutely change every aspect of your life. No lie.

So what happens when you refuel and connect to this “Church”? You grab a torch! I’ll explain in the next entry.

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(You are reading the blog series by Live Bold. This is a living, unedited book being written in the wide open. Follow along. If you’re getting here late, go back to the archives under the LB NOW category and start reading. Each entry is numbered in sequence. Comments are welcome and some will end up in the final published book. May God’s hand be in all we do here at Live Bold.)

About

Welcome, and thanks for dragging yourself over to Live|Bold! My name is Greg Arnold and I am pumped to see you here. This interactive online community is here to point every man toward the cross. Whether you have been a follower of Christ for ages, or you are just stumbling into this strange new world of faith, we have something of value to offer you. This online e-zine is a cross between a blog, a social network, a resource center, and a pulpit. My hope is to inspire you to live your faith on the outside and be a real man for God. We need you in the fight.