I started a thought a while ago about doing church on our own. I have even made the comment within a study group just this past week that I found it hard to believe that we can be a solitaire Christian. Part of following Christ is completed only within the framework of other believers. It is there that we begin to live out what it means to care for others; encourage and challenge others; and forgive those who wrong us. In a way, church becomes a petri dish for growing our faith. It is those relationships and our service to one another that prepares us for the much bigger challenge of serving those outside the church where the social norms and expectations are dramatically different.
There is a caution however. We must be vigilant to not see our involvement in the church as the "end game" but rather a "means to an end". Our lives get so wrapped around programs and projects that if we aren't careful, church work can take us away from the living out our faith in the world. As a church leader, I need to be aware of not over-programming and over-committing the laity in the work of the church to the detriment of their family, career, and being witnesses in the world.
So there is a balance. An equilibrium if you will that we all seek to maintain. How are you doing?
todd nelson 