So it took us a while to go to church again, a month to be exact. This was due to a couple of reasons, partially laziness and also there were a couple of places we stayed that didn’t have an available church service on the days we were there.
So we ended up in the Highlands of Scotland in a tiny little village called Opinan, about 7miles out of Gairloch. on Sunday the 6th of March we went to the Gairloch Free Church of Scotland. A beautiful little church community that meets in a church building that was built in 1878.
It was quite amazing that the sermon that was given in this church picked up where we left of a month earlier in Bishop Monkton. We left off in Bishop Monkton with mountain top views and the fact that you can’t have mountain top views without climbing the mountain. but in order to climb the mountain, we need training, support and equipment.
Enter, the Church. Based on Ephesians 2:11-22 and 4:1-16.
We look at what is the church? Is it a building, the bricks and mortar or the architecture? Is it a label or a name, a denomination? Is it the people, who by God’s grace believe?
The word church in the New Testament comes from a Greek word that means those who have been called out from one environment into another.
At this point, my mind began going in all sorts of directions, pondering things over. Things like why do we (and when I say we, I also mean me) focus so much on the building? Is it because it’s safe there? Maybe we are protected within its walls and we can pretend that all is well and we can move on to the next week with an easy mind. I know I have felt this way. In the end, isn’t the important part of it all spreading God’s love and living a life that show’s this love to those around us? Sharing the gospel of life? Sure having a building can help that, but we can’t let the building, the stuff inside it be what consumes us, because in the end, it’s just a building filled with stuff.
We also put so much pressure and expectation on our pastors to do it all. They are expected to evangelise, to teach, to care for the sick, to recruit, to intercede. In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul is very clear that different people are given different ministerial giftings. So if all of the necessary gifts are given to different people, then why do we expect 1 person to do it all? And we wonder why so many people in church ministry burn out, loose their passion and become ineffective. For any of my pastors that I have done this to… I am sorry, please forgive me. Even though we are all called to go and make disciples of all nations, God blesses specific people with gifts that are designed to equip and support the rest of us to be able to go forth and fulfil the mission at hand. So next time you go to have a bitch about how much more your pastor should be doing or excuse yourself from doing something because that’s the pastor’s responsibility and not yours, maybe check to see if you are one of the people that should be equipping or supporting those around you. If it turns out that you are not one of those people, news flash… You are meant to be being equipped and supported then. Seek those people out and let them do their jobs for you!
Only when we stop putting so much expectation on our pastors, let those who are gifted fulfil their roles and stop trying to get out of doing things and accept that we are all called to a mission in some way can we really be ready and able to make the journey. You want a mountain view? Then put on some boots, strap on a pack and climb the frickin mountain!