religion in the church

Nakedpastor just posted this excellent piece on taking our religious selves to church. If you've been reading my blog, you know that I have recently been challenged with the question of "how we do church". I think Naked hits at least one of the nails right on the head when he says, "once we get within the walls of a church, we become something we are certainly not". We have this notion of what church should be. This notion is sadly too often informed by our tradition rather than the Spirit. We then condition ourselves to be less than we are designed to be.

Frank Viola is challenging this by reminding us that it is not right to put new wine in old wine skins. However, based on the above, I am more convinced than ever that comparing the old wine skin to Sunday morning services in the western world is the wrong analogy. He's on the right track in terms of something needs to change but I don't think he has the right target in his sights. I think the target is the people of God, the true church, that somehow equate what they do on Sunday as being the Church. We need to change that paradigm. As Naked points out, we are somehow able to do that at other times, why not on Sunday? Why, when we think of Sunday, do we feel a need to and then ultimately do come up with some special, modified behavior that is not reflective of who we are during the week?

This is the change that must be targeted. I fear that Viola focusing on the problem from the tact he has chosen will only result in another set of problems.

Technorati Tags: community, ecclesiology