Origins…

What’s the Point: Local Expression of the Body

This week some words about some thought on “what is church” are coming to us from our very own Aaron Strumpel. Check out his website for tour dates over here or follow him on twitter here.

I’ve had an idea drilled into my head and heart numerous times since meeting my friend and mentor Ben Pasley.  It’s that when we use the word “church” to talk about what we do on a Sunday morning or night, we do a GREAT disservice to the “Church,” also referred to as the Body of Christ…every time I say, “I’m going to church,” I let myself and the people around me think (even if subtly) the Body of Christ or the Church is something a person can simply go to.  It becomes something that was good on one Sunday, bad on another.  The Body being judged by the richness of the coffee or the talent of the worship leader.  Geez.  So I think the re-claiming of the word “Church” for what it is in all of it’s beauty, complexity, diversity, and breadth is really important.  And maybe the re-naming of what we do on a Sunday is also important.

That said, I say that I’m going to church all the time!  Haha.  What I mean is that I’m going to a meeting or service or time of worship and/or fellowship with a group of people who have committed to one another and submitted to Christ as a community.  The local expression of Church.

Another bad fruit of using the word “church” for local expressions of the Body was that I felt that each “church,” in order to live up to it’s moniker, had to embody all the theological exactness and hands-on incarnation that Jesus offers us.  A couple of things have broken me of this nasty little spirit of judgment: 1. I’ve recognized the diversity of worshipping communities (Jesus may or may not be an English speaker who shares in our love of coffee, 1980′s synths, and spas), 2. I’ve seen that different personality types really NEED different things to get closer to God (smart, analytical people often NEED to ponder every mental avenue in a road to rationalizing a theological point; emotional, unbalanced people like myself, haha, NEED to feel like God literally touched them in a time of worship; tree-huggers NEED to walk like St. Francis with birds on their shoulders and trees whispering songs in their ears!), 3. I’ve grown to trust God, specifically the Holy Spirit, to take care of other places I don’t necessarily agree whole-heartedly with and I can serve where God’s given me a voice, I can release where I don’t have anything beneficial to share.

Ok, now that I’ve got that off my chest, I really love that Garret started this discussion as he was pondering Ephesians.  The fourth chapter of Ephesians is one of my favorites.  It talks about all these gifts being poured out on specific people within the Body for the sole purpose of bringing the Body into maturity…to a place where they aren’t tossed to and fro by the winds of false teaching and deceitful scheming.  To a place where we can experience the incarnation in a richer way, seeing Christ in one another, in our city, in our families.  And that’s why it’s SO VERY important to live in community, in the context of a local Body.  We NEED each other to see God in a complex way, to know His hand in our lives in new ways…if we could be lone rangers, we’d all have every gift…

Personally, I’ve loved being a part of the Origins family since the Rileys moved to town with the crew from Oklahoma.  I’ve seen the Body grow and evolve in a really beautiful way.  But the foundations of freedom in worship, justice for God’s children, and hospitality to name a few, have always been present…I’ve often said I would never “work” in a “church,” but I’ve found we are one of the most exotic, beautiful expressions of the Body and can’t help but be a little dazzled and smitten by our people.  So it’s with that in mind that I leave this blogging to go seal the grout in the second bathroom in my house in Woodland Park so I can sell this beast and move north to be among a fragrant people, purposed to live lives of sacrifice to each other and Christ.  Yummy people, prepare your tables and dishes, get your summer tires on, pick up your hammers, here I come!

- Aaron Strumpel

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