Rethinking Church

The first quote I gave you from Kimball got me thinking about some other church quotes, so I’ve decided to stick with this church theme for another day...maybe longer. Here’s one from Neil Cole in his book Organic Church:

“I have found that so many years of running church shows on Sunday mornings has imprinted upon our minds an understanding of church that is not necessarily biblical. We find it nearly impossible to even think about church without a Sunday morning service event, but this is not the biblical norm. When we read of church life, we read into the scriptural text this idea. Try reading your New Testament with new lenses. Try to imagine the New Testament church without a once-a-week service. In fact, there is much evidence that believers got together with their church families daily, not once a week—and the gathering had more to do with a meal together than with sanctimonious liturgy. How did we ever get to the place where church was nothing more than a one-and-half-hour service on a single day of the week at a specific location? I assure you, in Jesus’ eyes, the Church is more than that! He doesn’t limit His Church to a building, a location or a time frame.” Neil Cole, The Organic Church (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005), 40.

I know it can be frustrating to hear a critique of something without an alternative being offered. Quite honestly, I don’t subscribe to all of the alternative solutions set forth by Cole in his book. But my intention here is simply to raise questions and get you wrestling with some ideas. You can do with it whatever you please. Just don’t shoot the messenger. ;)