Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Church in the Nizow


I recalled a memory from when I was pregnant with Cannon as I passed a familiar church yesterday. Chris and I stopped at this church over a year ago for a parking lot yardsale. It's one of those semi-new fangled church buildings that only partially resembles a church. I think I ended up buying a little golden book for Cannon, "Mickey's Christmas Carol" for twenty-five cents. While we were there, there were parking lot attendants handing out promotional literature. As we were leaving this one guy asked us if we "go here." Like "Do you go to church here?" Chris and I exchanged the same look and then politely replied no while smiling and accepting their flyer. We waited til we got in the car to make the same comment that if a person doesn't even know if they attend the same church as us then it must be a pretty big ol church--too big to not only not remember a name, but not even a face. I often hear people talk about hospitals or other companies that they like because they are a name not just a number. So, if it's not okay to be just a number when it comes to healthcare or finances, why is it okay to just be a faceless body in the crowd at what should be a very personal experience of fellowship and community?

I'm reminded of another church called "Church in the NOW" that sits ever so gaudily just off I-20 East. It's purple and yellow and conveniently displays the temperature and time on a scrolling marquee. I don't know about you, but that is the FIRST thing I look for when I'm going to church. Thank God they have the temperature here in both Farenheit and Celcius! Praise Jesus!

1 comment:

Rachael Walkup said...

The church we go to just had a sermon series on how most churches have moved away from what the church was meant to be. You can listen to the sermons if you are interested: http://northpoint.org/messages/big-church

Very interesting stuff.