Wabi Sabi Christianity

I picked up a little book the other day called "The Invisible Church - A Journey into the Future of the UK Church".  I'm honestly not sure why I grabbed it other than it was very inexpensive and sounded kind of intersesting. 

It is in fact an interesting read, although at this point I would not yet consider it as being a must read, but then again, I'm only a quarter of the way through it so far.  But something did catch my attention while reading tonight.  The book is a fiction story in which the author plays the main character.  One night he is hit by lightning and finds himself transported 40 years into the future where the church as he (and we) know it in the UK has all but disappeared.  Each chapter tells the story of what he learns in this future and ends with a letter written by an individual who is back in our current time reading over the notes of the author regarding his trip into the future. 

At one point the person reviewing the author's account of his travels into the future is talking about how the early church met in homes and how in the UK many denominations can't afford some of these beautiful ornate buildings they own anymore because of dwindling congregations.  He brings up the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi.  This really caught my attention and I ended up googling wabi-sabi.  The basic concept is finding beauty in things that are simple, imperfect and humble, thing unconventional.  In the book and online wabi sabi is referenced as "a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete." 

Maybe it is just because of my recent walk with the Lord and the fact that I'm part of what some might call a house church, but this concept really resonated with me.  I've grown more in my relationship with the Lord and with my church family since we began meeting in this way about 4 years ago than I ever did in "traditional" church.  Doing "church" for us is nothing fancy - we worship together, eat together, study God's Word together and pray together.  Our singing is many times off key and usually led by just a simple guitar.  Our prayers are often filled with long periods of quiet and are not usually what one would consider flowery or polished.  They are often brutally honest and filled with raw emotion.  We don't have a set structure per se.  We have a basic schedule we kind of follow but we are open to wherever the Holy Spirit chooses to lead us.  This means that if He shows up and leads discussion, worship or prayer in a particular direction we try to follow.  Sometimes we follow our "schedule" and other times we'll spend the majority of our time in worship or prayer if we feel His leading to do so.  We are becoming very honest with one another and learning to hold one another accountable.  We are honest and real with one another without taking offense.  We look to the Holy Spirit to be our guide and teacher. Jesus is our High Priest, our Pastor.  We do have an individual we see as our "elder" but our leader is Jesus.  We are far from having it figured out, but we are all united in our desire to pursue our God together and follow His leading the best we can.

So this concept of a wabi sabi church spoke to me.  People make up the church (the body of Christ) not a building, not traditions, not a denomination.  We are all sinful people and therefore imperfect and incomplete.  As I grow closer to the Lord, I'm beginning myself to see more beauty and meaning in simple things.  Jesus was not a flashy preacher who used a fancy sound system and colorful lights.  He was a simple carpenter who was humble and felt no need to use fancy advertising or marketing campaigns to draw people in.  He hung out with simple people and met them where they were.

As I get older I begin to be amazed at how we as humans make things so difficult.  I think many times things truly are much more simple than we make them.  I find it amazing how God and His Love for us can be so complex and yet so simple at the same time.

Bottom line for me?  I'm not saying that tradtional church, traditions, fancy buildings, sound systems, etc are bad, because they are not in and of themselves.  However, if we begin to focus on these things in such a way that our focus comes off of Jesus, then they are a stumbling block.  Even if our intentions are good and noble, they can derail us if we stop focusing on Jesus and following Him instead of our ideas of how things should work.  The concept of house churches can be a stumbling block if the focus becomes defending what we do and how we do it rather than on worshiping and pursuing our God.  In the end, I think I agree with the character in the book when he says at the end of one of his letters -

"I should like to see some wabi sabi worship; modest, humble, unconventional.  It would take place in wabi-sabi buildings; simple, domestic, ordinary.  And it would reflect perhaps, a wabi-sabi God; a God who delights in things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete, and who wants to bring them permanence, perfection and completeness."

Ephesians 1:4-6

My house church just finished a study for the children on Praise. It actually had some really good things for us adults as well. So last night we had decided to do a quick study on the Armor of God until we decided what to do next. The study last night really had a lot of good discussion with the adults and with the kids (I'll share some in the upcoming days!). We are finally starting to figure out how to do our "adult" time as a church while involving the kids as well. It is amazing how much everyone, adults & children, are growing closer to the Lord.

We decided we are now going to go through all of Ephesians - one chapter a week. We will all read it and come with our notes/thoughts to discuss. One adult each week will go through the chapter as well to look for discussion items to involve the children. I'm so excited!

Last night I started reading through Epehsians 1 and verses 4 - 6 really jumped out at me. I wanted to share that with you today.

4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
(Ephesians 1:4-6, NIV)

I'm going through a study right now on the Song of Solomon and I'm starting to finally get in my heart how the Lord really feels about me, how much He really loves me. This may be why this verse jumped out to me. We all remember the verse about the Lord knowing us when we were in our mother's womb (Psalm 71:6), but the verse in Ephesians tells us that the Lord not only has loved us since we were conceived, but even before the world was created!

Think about this and personalize it to you. The Lord loved me and wanted me to be holy and blameless in His sight even before He created the world! He wanted me to be a child of His even before He made the earth and all that is in it! What an amazing love.

Then it says he took pleasure in planning this. Even before He created the world He loved me, thought of me and made a plan to redeem me because of His love for me and He took pleasure in doing all of this. I am NOT a burden to the Lord - He takes pleasure in me just the way I am now. Not in how I will be after His process with me is finished (that is what He is enjoying planning for me). He took/takes pleasure in me when I was/am at my lowest!

For me that is a huge revelation. I think without realizing it I had a always seen myself as a burden to God. When I read this last night it finally hit me - God was telling me that when He does things for me He is not doing it because He feels He is obligated to do so because that is what His Word says, but because He really enjoys it and wants to do it for me!

I looked these verses up on Biblegatway in various translations. I love the way it is worded in The Message:

3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

(Ephesians 1:3-6, The Message)

I love how this says we were the focus of his love and that He wants us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving. When you personalize this and realize this is how the Lord feels about you, regardless of where you are at right now - that is beyond what we can imagine! Just know the Lord really does Love you more than you could ever imagine and there is nothing you have to do to earn it. He is pursuing you and lavishes His amazing love on you. Doesn't that just make you want to love and serve Him so much more!

19We love Him because He first loved us.

(1 John 4:19, NKJV)

Church

Last week I was asked what church I attend. In the past couple years I've gotten a vast array of responses when I answer this question. You see, I do not attend a traditional church any longer. I have nothing against traditional church, it is just that the Lord has led me in a different direction at this time in my life.

For a little over two years now, I've been part of a house church. We are a group of about 6 families that meet together weekly for fellowship. We eat together, worship together, pray together and study the Word together.

We were all originally part of a traditional church which for financial reasons was no longer able to meet in the way we normally think of a church meeting. At that point in time we had an emphasis on small groups and were studying the way the early church had interacted with one another in the 1st century. The concept of house churches was a natural progression for us. I believe the Lord led us down this path for a reason.

This experience has been more interactive and intimate than what I have every experienced in a traditional setting. We are actively involved in one another's lives outside of church and our children are a part of our worship, prayer and study time. Sometimes they are actually participating with us, other times they are in the other room doing an activity themselves. However they are always very aware of what their parents are doing in regards to fellowship with one another. I cherish this aspect of our church family. And that is what these people have become to me, family.

As I mentioned above, I have received very mixed reactions when I try to explain to others what my "church" is like. Some are really excited by the idea and want to know more. Others have implied I am not going to a "real" church and that I need to start attending a traditional church. They then start telling me about their church and with good intentions invite me to attend with them. And then there have been some that have flat out told me they think it sounds like a cult.

However, I can tell you, in the past 2 years my walk with Lord has grown more than ever before and has become more intimate than ever. I have also developed relationships with other believers which I was never able to develop in a traditional church setting.

I know the type of church I attend may not appeal to everyone and that is fine. The Lord speaks to each of us and puts us on the path He knows is best for us. It just so happens that at this point in my journey, my path leads here.

I have mentioned my House Church is various posts on this blog. Below is one post I made specific to this topic. If you are interested you can read that post. Or feel free to post a comment and ask me any questions you may have.

House Churches

House Churches

(Cross-post with my other blogs)

Some of you who read my blog already know that I attend a "house church" instead of a traditional church. I've grown alot in the past almost 2 years now since we started meeting in this way. My relationship with those in my church family has become more intimate and meaningful. More importantly, my relationship with God has deepened and therefore my walk with Him and my obedience to Him.

This morning I was listening to Air1 and the news segement had a short blurb on a how house churches are growing. It was very short, but I found it very interesting. Tonight I got on their website to check it out and found the original article the news blurb was based on.

Here it is for your reading pleasure if you are interested.
There's no place like home, these Christians say

I found it very interesting, especially considering I've fellowshiping and worshiping in this way for almost 2 years now.