Could Church actually not suck?

I am reading a book that is completely blowing my mind. It is called The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. Basically these authors are writing about the fall of Christendom and rise of the Post Modern era. They contend that we are in the midst of a massive paradigm shift of even greater significance than the Renaissance or the Reformation. Basically the Church (all of Christianity) has been in decline since the enlightenment and has been sputtering out its last bit of relevance since the end of the 20th century. Some say that all of its relevance ended at the turn of this century.

The authors suggest the radical stripped down notion of the missional church as the new type of Church. To be engaged with the culture in meaningful ways without being beguiled by the culture. To hold fast to the central values of the Gospel while meeting actual needs of the people in a relational spirit.

The church as it now is expects people to come to it. For people seeking spirituality to show up and be a good church person. Join this, do that, participate in the church culture to know God. Translation: jump through a whole bunch of hoops that are irrelevent to the gospel and learn how to act and we will let you know God like we do. The missional idea of church is the church moving out into the world in meaningful ways and knowing people, where they are at, out of love.

My favorite example in this book (so far, I am still reading) is about a pub ministry. These Christians bought a pub in England. The pub is a central social place for people to be together and know one another. The Christians running this pub get to know their patrons in a real way. They aren't out there making projects out of people. They are serving them their drinks and genuinely getting to know them. As the relationship develops opportunities to talk about spiritual things happen and God is able to work. This is relational ministry. It doesn't suppose people clean up and get pretty to come to God. It is God going to them as they are....purely biblical.

What would it look like if all of us Christians went to the places and people that Jesus cared about without moralizing all over folks? Jesus came down the hardest on the Religious people of his time. It was the tax collector, the prostitute, and the rejected that he spent his time with. What if we all went to the least of these instead of gathering all us Religious folk every Sunday? What if we genuinely loved people and let God work freely instead of sending our donation to the missionaries over there? What if our lives, our work, our shopping, our parenting, our breathing, and our everything was an act of worship and therefore mission? What if I woke up every morning and expected to used by God?

I will admit, it is scary to walk outside of the comfort of a church building and call my non-church attendance 'church'. Truthfully, I don't have a sense of community like that pub or like the early believers. Can I find that in the Suburbs? Are we too well off to have actual authentic community in middle class suburbia? Are there other's out there like me?

I have been listening to sermons via podcast by Greg Boyd from Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN for several months now. He wrote a book called The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church which was featured on the front page of the NY Times last July. His preaching is right in line with the ideas of relational ministry and the missional church. I'm pretty sure being home on Sunday mornings and listening to a podcast doesn't constitute church, but it is something really beautiful for me right now. We do go to church here and there, but as any mama of little children knows, the lack of a morning nap for the baby and the over stimulation of church for a toddler is enough to snuff out any mystical and spiritual thoughts I may be having.

I know I am way behind the 8 ball on these ideas. Lots of other people have way more to say on the subject and are doing it. I feel hopeful for the first time in years that there may be a place for me after all.

Personally, Church has been a struggle for me for several years. I have never liked the political distinctions...'liberal' & 'Conservative'. The 'liberal' churches seemed to be the ones engaging with the culture and meeting real physical & social justice types of needs but seemed so swayed by their environments. The 'Conservative' churches lay claim to theological authenticity but only appear to engage with the culture for an argument or to clean people up and learn the church culture so they can be good ____________ (fill in your denomination here).

On a more personal note, I can never seem to find people who want to be in community with me in a meaningful way. I have had authentic communal experiences before...spiritual and non spiritual. But now that I am all grown up and live in middle class America...I don't know anyone that well, save for a few people. I think that is what is so inspiring to me about all of this. I have to boot myself out of my comfortable station and get to work.

Any takers? Anyone want to be part of the subversive revolution with me?