How Was Church?

How was church yesterday?  This is a common question for me to receive on a Sunday evening or Monday as I talk to people.  Usually it is asked by a sincere and curious church member who from some reason was not able to be at the Sunday morning worship.  Its a fair question to ask so I usually don't think much of it.  What most people really want to know is how many people were there, was the music good, did the preacher do an outstanding job, was there any excitement, did somebody get baptized, and other types of fun stuff.  Honestly, I've asked these questions myself when I've been absent from the normal Sunday services.  A couple of weeks ago I was surprised with the answer...

Go back with me to Sunday Morning October 12th when I walked into my living room at 6:00AM to the squishy feel of wet carpet under my toes.  Of course,  I knew something was wrong immediately.  Especially as I walked into my kitchen to feel even more water lapping over my foot and hearing the sound of water spewing from under my kitchen sink because of a busted pipe.  I looked around realizing at least two thirds of my house had water on the floor.  Getting to church was far from my thoughts as I scrambled to get the water cut off and began to gather my wits to decide what to do next.  My first instinct was to call my insurance agent and wake her up out of a hard sleep.  Once I got that ball rolling, I made three calls from church friends.  In a matter of minutes my house had about 7 or 8 folks running around moving furniture, clothes, and all sorts of other things into my garage.  After two hours the house had been vacated except for the back two bedrooms.  My Care Group and other friends (who we've been with in Care Group before) had made multiple offers to provide foo.d One dear friend brought plastic tubs over to store stuff so the lizards wouldn't get in (ask my wife about her love for lizards!).  And, yes, like a good neighbor, my State Farm agent did come over to my house by 9AM Sunday morning.  In the days that followed, I answered many calls from church family offering to help me with anything my family needed...some provided housing and others gave their time to help us get back into our home.

My point is this:  Sometime around 10:00AM during that Sunday morning as I watched love unfold from all of you, my church family, it hit me...church was great!  I hadn't been at the church building to sing together, gather around the Lord's table, or hear God's word preached.  But, on that special morning church came to me.  My family and I were loved and God was honored every step of the way.  Church was great and it had everything to do with a servants heart and love for one another!

Don't get me wrong.  I love our Sunday morning times together as a church at our building.  I love everything that happens during that couple of hours when I am there on most on Sunday mornings, barring floods.  It is a time we ought to set aside and put as a priority in our lives.  It is a place to love God and build one another up in a special way. 

However, I think we can confuse that time as the only measure of how the church is "doing".  Maybe we ought to look at our entire week and see how the church is doing?  Somehow I think its more than showing up at the right time on Sundays.  I think it has alot to do with how real and open you are to others loving you and your willingness to step out and care for others in the body as well.  How the church is doing might have even more to do with your heart toward those in need and less fortunate as you.  It probably has something to do with your part in a smaller group of folks you can experience true fellowship and service alongside.

So, let me ask you a question...how was church TODAY?