I was speaking with my wife some time ago and we began talking about the different types of churches and people we see taking a big stake in their church families. Inevitably, the conversation began moving towards a direction where we noted some of the divisions in the church body, particularly when it comes to how church communities view outsiders or "different" church groups. To many in our community, a church in rural Africa would look like less like "traditional church" and would look more like a folk music festival with speaking, music, singing, dancing, and eating. To many evangelical protestants, they may see the Catholic or Greek Orthodox churches as less of a genuine worship celebration and more of a ritualistic practice. For many in traditional churches, they may see contemporary, often larger churches and view them more as glorified "Jesus concerts" rather than legitimate gatherings of believers.
So who's right? Surely someone must be "right" and someone must be "wrong"... right?
We are very concerned about being "correct" and "proper" when it comes to church... sometimes so much so that we forget why we assemble as believers in the first place. Some people will find God in something we might call "traditional worship". Others will look to a more casual home setting. Still others may look for something else entirely. Each one of these people are seeking a closer relationship with God and God, in his love and wisdom, understands that different people will worship him... differently. Peter gives us a fantastic example of this in Acts. He was called to visit a Centurion who was viewed as a foreigner, but one devoted to the faith. Because he did not have customs similar to the Jewish believers, some questioned whether he was "right" in how he sought to know and understand God...
Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." (Acts 10:34-35)
So many who profess the name of Jesus Christ have proven to excel at bashing and tearing down anyone who would dare to worship God in a manner different than what they are accustomed to seeing. We, ourselves, are often quick to point at something "different" and automatically judge it as irreverent, insincere, or self-serving. What Peter states, pure and simple, is that the sole objective of any assembly of believers is to serve and know God. How they accomplish that goal is purely cultural.
We are striving, in this church, to be "all things to all people" so that all "nations" in our own backyard might be reached for Christ. That is hard for some to understand, but don't let skepticism or murmurs discourage you from a righteous mission. Even though none of us can claim to know the thoughts of the almighty, I am confident that God is far more glorified by groups of people freely worshiping him than they are by people politely observing their swimlanes and coloring inside the lines of what people think of as "church".
Christ's ministry was messy. The apostles' ministries were messy. Why should we expect our own ministries to be neat, tidy, and fit inside of some cultural box? Let's get messy and glorify God in the process.
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