Off top, I don't remember the last time the Thursday group met.
It was a while back.
We met last night with the understanding that it would be a brief gathering. (It actually lasted about two hours which, by the way, is an hour briefer than the typical gathering.)
We had an edifying time with a great but brief meditation by Evie on why taking the Lord's Supper is superior to observing Advent (without even mentioning that Jesus commands one and the other is a late human tradition.)
And, we decided that we would not meet again for the rest of the year. That decision was necessitated by the strain on Evie resulting from her job change. The decision came easily because, while gathering is important to us, we understand that gathering is, in no way, an act of righteousness. And, we take righteousness seriously.
The Thursday night people will certainly be in contact but not in the gathering.
I'll miss it. But I understand what really is important.
Not long ago, I remarked in a private exchange with a mountaintopper, that Kingdom focus is subversive to a church way of thinking and doing things. It is, of course, not subversive to church in the way church functioned in the New Testament but it is subversive to the Christendom notion of church that so many aspire to today.
The ease with which we decided not to meet for the rest of the year indicates the subversive nature of kingdom focus to Christendom doing.
In this group, we are all kingdom people, i.e., people striving to live faithfully under the lordship of Jesus. For us, Jesus is so completely the focus that the gathering has no consequence unless it serves our individual submission to Him. For the moment, the gathering would be a complication for us and, so, it will cease to function for the moment.
That is not to say that we will disappear from each others' lives. Certainly, we won't. But the gathering part of our lives, on Thursdays at least, will disappear.
The only important thing that will disappear because we don't gather, is the taking of the Lord's Supper. But, we will do that in other settings.
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