Christians are willing to passively sit together in church but seldom willing to be gathered together in active heart-intimacy with the living Jesus and with each other. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . you were not willing.” Never be satisfied with knowledge about Jesus without ongoing awareness of His presence!

People like to turn Christianity into church but reading the Bible reveals it to be so much more than that! Christians like to gather as a passive audience, but Christ wants to build and to be the literal leader (the actual Head) of the interactive assembly of His people that He called His “ekklesia” (His interactive Greek-style town hall meeting).

The purpose of preaching the Gospel is to help people connect heart-to-heart with the risen Jesus so that He can directly lead them by His Spirit without them needing to always depend on a preacher. Giving a talk about Jesus like He’s not in the room seems to miss the point of His resurrection. The purpose of Peter’s preaching on Pentecost was to explain the Spirit-led, crowd-gathering things that were happening in the moment (celebration that spilled into the street, massive speaking in tongues, fire-like-glowing on people, and the sound of rushing wind), not to present a programmed sermon to passive people.

Religious institutions that have grown around Christianity often hide the reality of the risen Jesus. Since Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice, wouldn’t it be nice to give His sheep some time in a church service to share what He’s telling them?

Christ-followers
Are called to:
* Celebrate Christ,
* Participate with Christ,
* Partake of Christ,
* Radiate Christ.

If Jesus isn't
Actively working
And living
In the meeting,
Then churching
Is just watching
A program.