We won't meet today. This is a scheduled week off for our gathering anyway.
We didn't meet last week either, though, and Evie and I have already decided that we won't host a gathering next week either.
In another thread, the guy I know as Lew, AKA Vieux Loup, suggested that I think gathering regularly is not important.
And I argued in return that I do think it's important but that I don't think it's an act of righteousness.
And, I do not think gathering is an act of righteousness--in the New Covenant, anyway.
In a way, the proof that we think gathering is important here is that we have a regular meeting schedule.
On the other hand, the evidence to support Lew's claim that we don't think gathering is important is that we cancel our regularly scheduled gatherings on a fairly regular basis.
As of this moment, we do plan to gather next week. It's just that Evie and I won't host the gathering.
As we sometimes do, we plan to organize lunch at a local restaurant and invite everyone to join us there and to pay for the meal for at least the people from the home.
It's at this point that I'd guess that Lew and I have an issue.
I suspect that Lew wouldn't see what we plan for next week as a gathering in a spiritual sense.
But, we will spend time in the Word and we will pray together.
The only thing the congregation will consume next Sunday in that gathering will be the food they order.
In a traditional, seeker-sensitive, gathering, the people attending also consume "worship team" led music and, of course, a sermon.
Having carefully studied New Testament gatherings, I'd argue that what we do when we gather at a restaurant is at least as close to "New Testament plan" gatherings as what traditional seeker-sensitive folks do in their, misnamed, worship services.
And, honestly, what Jesus taught is that the church is present when two or three are gathered in His Name.
--------------
Bottom line, we think that gathering is important because it is a means to an end. Advocates of the institutional Christianity, I believe, see gathering as a very important end in itself.
With that understanding, many institutionalists may not see our gatherings as gatherings at all.
On the other hand, I, at least, can't see what goes on in a seeker-sensitive so-called "worship service" as resembling anything close to anything Jesus taught or did or that took place among early disciples.
--------------
Anyway, a lot of stressful and energy-consuming things are going on in our family, particularly concerning mom and dad's mental and physical health.
If we didn't value gathering, we'd not do anything gathering-related at all for a looooooong time.
More on that stuff, probably, at a later time.
No comments:
Post a Comment