Where Is the Church?

It seems more people who claim to be Christian are caught up in "doing" church over "being" church. But church isn’t a place. It isn’t a series of routine worship activities. Church is the life of Jesus on display through his people. Jerry Cook tells a story about Richard Halverson that illustrates the contrast between doing and being for the people who belong to Jesus Christ.

Dr. Halverson served as chaplain of the U. S. Senate for 13 y ears (1981 - 1994). During one of his visits to the seminary where Cook was a student, he joined a group of them for coffee and informal conversation. “Dr. Halv erson,” one seminarian asked, “where is your church?” The student wanted to know the street location of the Presbyterian Church Halverson served. He got a deeper and more insightful answer. “Well, its three o’clock in Washington, D.C., and the church I pastor is all over the city right now. It ’s driving buses, serving meals in restaurants, sitting in board meetings, having discussions in the Pentagon, and deliberating in Congress.” He proceeded with a long list of roles and responsibilities where his church was functioning that day. “And periodically we get together at a building on Fourth Street,” he added, “but we don’t spend a lot of our time there.” Halv erson’s answer was not naive. It was brilliant. Clearly he also intended to challenge the student to raise his sights above “church” as a Sunday event or even church as programs and budgets and organization. The church was never intended to be isolated from the world but to penetrate it as salt does food.

Jesus wants his people to be “in the world” but not “of the world”—functioning as light to dark places. Where will you be today ? Wherever it is and whatever you are doing, your role is to be a stand-in for Jesus to make the world a better, less-threatening place.

From FAX of Life – week of Nov 5, 2007 – edited and adapted

In Christian love,
Lloyd Cain