I can follow Jesus and not go to Church

I once heard from Tim Keller that 80% of American Christians believe that statement. 80%!! He goes on to point out that this idea is some fairy tale that was crafted to make us feel better about not having to be in community with other believers. Keller continues to explain the idea like this. You know that one friend of yours that reacts a certain way when you tell a joke? You know how you feel a little more comfortable around some of your friends than others? Maybe you have a few friends that you feel comfortable around but they are completely different and bring out different sides of you. This is how God created us. If you tried loving God on your own, you would fail. It is not possible. You must love God in community. Deep community. One that loves, encourages, confesses, suffers, gives, and lives together. Trying to love God on your own does not reveal the many sides of God that so many others posses. Here's the other deal. Going to church once a week does not constitute deep community. It constitutes going to church once a week. Church should be a result of what happens in community; outside the walls of the building (that's for another post). So, to say you can follow Jesus and not go to church, well maybe you can follow Jesus and not go to Church. But you're definitely not being the Church.

9 Things that Characterized the 1st Century Church

So if you didn't listen to this from Tim Keller you should. Just take 10 minutes. It will be worth your time. One of the things he talks about is how the 1st century church was characterized by a few very distinct views of culture. In that day, the church influenced culture. It was not influenced by it.

Here are 9 ways he says the church was radically different from the culture of its day.

-They empowered women in a patriarchal society
-They didn't attend gladiator fests. For this, they were considered anti-social
-Against abortion
-Against gay practices
-Against war. They did not fight for Caesar's army
-Against sex outside of marriage
-Racially diverse in a way that was shocking to culture
-Believed Jesus was the only way to salvation
-Advocated for the poor in a way no one else in society did.

Of course the church has been classified by the "against" items on this list but this is rapidly changing. One of the reasons I think this was the norm was that it was easy. It is easy to say what you believe. The others on the list require action (Save, Jesus is the only way to salvation. Although that requires action too). The church forgot about advocating for the poor, including all races, empowering women (still largely in a patriarchal dominated society), and supporting non-violence. Sometimes I think we still do. If you want to say, "We are trying to get back to the roots of the 1st century church", you should act like it.