What? I can just see my kids reading something like this and imagining a giant finger pressing down on our minivan, filled with everyone in their Sunday best, as their exasperated father tries to figure out why the car won't budge. Well... I can see myself imagining that at least.
Whatever could this advertisement mean? I read further:
"Maybe you're uncomfortable with the idea of God -- or at least someone else's idea of God. Yet maybe you yearn for a loving, spiritual community where you can be inspired and encouraged as you search for your own truth and meaning. This is a church, you ask?"
Wait a minute, are they describing a church without God? I thought you couldn't have a church without God. God without a church, certainly, but not the other way around. Why would someone go to church if they were uncomfortable about God? Wouldn't that be like going to happy hour when you're uncomfortable with people consuming alcohol? You don't go to someone's house expecting them not to be at home. God is the pillar of a church and the focus of worship in a church. A church without God ceases to be a church.
I'm starting to get uneasy. Did I miss something? Is it possible that my definition of "church" is so radically different from that of my peers? I think I should have a look at the inclusion of God in church as defined by the secular world. Let's see what my computer tells me....
My built in dictionary says a church is "A building used for public Christian worship."
That's not quite what I had in mind, so I read on...
"A particular Christian organization" is followed by "the body of all Christians."
Well, that settles it for me as far as the definition is concerned, but, being the humanities major that I am (or was, really), I feel a need to dig deeper. Where did this word "church" come from, anyway? Was there an intrinsic connection between the original intended meaning of "church" and God?
The word is traced to the Old English cirice, which is related to the German Kirche, which comes from the medieval Greek kurikon, which is based on the Greek kuriakon doma, or 'Lord's house.' Kurioso means 'master' or 'lord.'
This is interesting, and a bit daunting--I've found yet another word that I should respect a little more than I do. Every time I intone the word "church" I am referencing my Master--The Master, I should say.
So, coming back to the point that I was pondering, I have to honestly say that whoever placed the ad was not the only naïve one about the relationship between God and church, but I can be thankful that I didn't advertise my lack of knowledge on the subject.
Let me end with this aphorism from one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis:
“The perfect church service,would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.”
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