I skipped Church today?

Yesterday I finished moving into my “Mod” (the five person module I’ll be living in this school year at APU). There are only three of us living here but now but two more are coming in a week. We are not really settled in at all but we’re taking our time and that’s ok.
We all apparently decided to skip church this morning but I don’t doubt that in some way, shape, or form we will be “doing church” on our own.

Is that a problem?

I used to have real confusion, what am I saying I still do, about “doing church” I would have been appalled a year ago if a Christian would have told me that they skipped church. I would have continued to explain to them the importance of going to church… going… to church. Think about that statement for a minute, “going to church.” Does that statement make sense to you? Of course it does… but stop and envision with me what the Church is… what it looks like. Maybe, just stop relax for a second and think. What is the Church?

“We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself”

“Our High Priest sat down in the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. There he ministers in the sacred tent, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.”

"Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it."

“We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.”

When we say “I am going to church” what are we implying? We are saying it’s a place that we go. We have to get there at a certain time, you know, to get good seats. We sing songs and read bible verses. We have to buy coffee from the youth group table. Have a donut and go home to return in seven days, maybe sooner, like Wednesday evening for bible study and more coffee.
Is that what church is?

Church is not a place we go… it’s us. “We who believe” are the Church. We gather and tell our stories and serve each other and others and sing songs of our hope and our fears. We are real people who are alive. We live. We \are Church, God’s Church but we are people. We are anointed but confused. God brought us from dust, from the ground but he breathed His spirit into us. We are beautifully imperfect.

If you have questions about why the church is “messed up” maybe you need to remember that it’s us. It’s you. It’s people and we’re confused so why would we expect the Church to be perfect? It’s beautifully confused. Now, If it only knew it was confused…

Maybe our culture hates church because it’s never seen it or understood it.

Church is everyday and everywhere. So today, go to church, but remember what it is. Be Church, be people, not to a building. Live as the Church... together.