Our Preoccupation With Form

I’ve been thinking about church for the past few days. Like, what else is new? Ever since Alan’s and Aaron’s posts about the importance of form for the local church, I’ve been trying to clarify why I bristle at the preoccupation we have with form. I was focusing on form a lot in the past few years, but my thoughts are beginning to change. So, I’m not trying to slam anyone, just trying to clarify my own thoughts about the matter....Please hang-in-there with me this is stream of conciousness stuff....

I see at least four questionable beliefs of a preoccupation with the form of our gatherings: 1) We believe that if we “get church right” that individuals will “get right.” In other words, we believe that the form needs to be relevant, exciting, transformative, etc. for individuals to be saved, transformed, relational etc. 2) We need to “come to church”/gather to be transformed, or to experience the context for transformation. 3) We believe that it is our job to see that people get transformed into Christ-likeness. 4) Form winds up being used as an excuse to separate ourselves from each other in the family of God.

In my few years of following Jesus I’ve seen traditional, contemporary, Willow Creek, Purpose Driven, pragmatic church, cell church, house church and emerging church. Each one has been touted as the latest and greatest, but in the end has failed to fulfill “high calling.” For example, those of us who remember when Willow Creek was all the rage can look back and see just how far off the mark we were in thinking that church needed to be entertaining. In the end we merely produced consumers of religious goods and services. We thought we had the form right, but in the end the individuals didn’t “get it right.” It doesn't follow, nor has it ever, that if we do the right things at "church" that individuals will do the right things in their daily lives. Getting the mechanics right, or leading in the proper manner, does not necessarily mean we are sharing the life of Jesus together.

“We've taught for years the mistaken notion that we need to go to church to fill up on the life of God. Not true! We can only fill up on God's life through a transforming relationship with the Father through his Son. We were never meant to come to fill ourselves with church, but to live full of him and then share his life together with God's people. Here is the problem with most of what passes for church life today, including many house churches: Rather than teaching people how to live dependent on Jesus Christ, it supplants that dependency by its misguided attempt to take the place of Jesus in people's lives. Instead of teaching them how to live in him, they make them dependent on the structures and gatherings of what we call church. Our expressions of church life just become another thing to stand in the way of people living deeply and fully in him.” (Jacobsen)

There is a big difference between gathering together to share our common life in Jesus, and coming to church to be transformed. When we share our common life, we bring what Jesus has already given us to share with others. When we go to church looking for transformation we are not relying on God, we are relying on the form of church, the personalities of the leaders, the way the music makes us feel, the relationships we have to transform us. God may choose to use those in our transformation, but he may also use countless other ways too. I see no reason to focus on tools of the Christian subculture over and above those of the everyday life.

I submit that it is possible that the forms of our Christian activities may even hinder us from having a dynamic relationship with our living God. By nature, a relationship with any living thing is dynamic and unpredictable. Yet, we desire to reduce our relationship to fixed forms. I believe our goal is to live in the life of the Father everyday, allowing Him to transform us through/in our everyday activities, relating to Him in more intimate ways that lead to authentic trust, and sharing that life with others. If our gatherings are causing people, in anyway, to rely on our forms/structures in the place of God we need to seriously step back and question why we are preoccupied with those forms and structures.

We have sought new expressions of the Church for many different reasons. Many of us have left the IC becuase we didn't believe the form was appropriate, biblical, or helpful in our relationship with God, or each other. Maybe the problem wasn't with the particular form, maybe the problem is the preoccupation with any form. Perhaps what we are tryin to re-"form" is the problem. Maybe we should look at our gatherings as individuals sharing the life of Jesus in them, rather than a place for people to come to be transformed....?

So, if the forms of our gatherings are not of primary importance, how does transformation take place? Please don’t misunderstand me here. Gatherings are important, but I do not believe that the gathering is the impetus for transformation. If, as Wayne Jacobsen says, “Jesus’ life in people doesn’t flow out of church life, Jesus’ life in His people flows into church life,” then transformation begins with the individual and flows into the community. I see transformation happening not as I respond to well done music, participate in liturgy, participate in corporate disciplines, or listen to a sermon, but when I trust in Jesus in the everyday occurences of my life...when I learn to let Him love me, and am filled with His love, then I have something to share with the community.

I'll try to address the other issues I mentioned at a later date...I'm all typed out...
Feel free to challenge my conclusions. I' m still trying to flesh it all out...