The Dynamic Church

     When did people start "going to church?"  I mean, going as opposed to being the church.  When did church become something you do instead of something you are?  When did people start "attending" church as if it were a baseball game.  Whenever that started happening, I think the church got really boring. 

   After Easter, I typically read through the book of Acts, the account of the earliest Christians.  It was anything but boring.   Fire comes on their heads and they become bi-lingual, tri-lingual, quad-lingual . . . (Acts 2).  The apostles get arrested for preaching the risen Jesus and an angel does a jailbreak (Acts 5:19).  Like Star Trek, a Christian named Philip is transported from a desert road with an African eunuch to a town called Azotus (8:40).  A religious zealot named Paul is blinded by an encounter with Jesus (9:9).  Peter has a trip of a dream - not induced by any substance - and he’s told to take Jesus to outsiders (Acts 10).  And on and on. 

     If you wanted a comfortable, stable, traditional church experience, this is not for you.  There is an edginess to the early Christians.  For them the church was not a place they attended.  It was who they were.  It was a dynamic community gathered in and through Jesus, animated by the Holy Spirit.   The early church was always in flux; often appearing chaotic; persecuted yet thriving; moving and never static; anything but boring. 

      There still are really cool, dynamic, "not boring" Christians.  Some of them go to my church  . . . I mean, they are my church.  I hope more people get to meet them.