Home > Work > Finding Church: What If There Really is Something More?
1 " We acknowledge his place by actually following the Lamb as best we perceive him. That’s not a decision you can make once for the rest of your life. It is a continuous challenge in a hundred decisions made day after day as you learn how different his desires are from your own. The new creation is not some sort of spiritual Disneyland where your every dream comes true. It’s where Jesus’ every word and desire comes to pass. "
― Wayne Jacobsen , Finding Church: What If There Really is Something More?
2 " had it easy. Because he didn’t have to run a ministry or manage a congregation, he was free to engage people exactly as he found them. He didn’t have to make them do anything for him; thus, he was free to love them and they were free to respond to that love or reject it. He didn’t need their tithes to pay his salary, their attendance to validate his ego, or their time to fill out his program. "
3 " would the church of Jesus Christ look like if it were made up of people who were learning to live in the same reality Jesus did, with an eye on his Father and a compassionate heart for people around him? How "
4 " If you share my frustration with the disparity between the church as Scripture talks about her and what we see reflected in our religious institutions, you’re not alone. You’re standing in a long line that includes the likes of Francis of Assisi, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and nameless others who dared to ask the difficult questions and struggled with the uncomfortable answers. "
5 " who do not trust Jesus to build his church cannot imagine church life without leaders and followers. They "
6 " is going to be more like a family and less like a business, more a growing network of friends than a set of rules and rituals. "
7 " church Jesus is building will defy all human attempts to replicate it because it is the fruit of a life well loved. It is "
8 " is simply the way people share life together when Jesus is their growing preoccupation and they are learning to listen and follow him. If people "
9 " church is not a human creation. Rather, it is the fruit of the relationships of those who are part of a new creation—the redeemed race of humanity that relates to him as the Head. When "
10 " church of the new creation is more like wildflowers strewn across an alpine meadow than a walled garden with manicured hedges. I realize "
11 " community of the new creation that Jesus is building. They "
12 " keep trying to fit into the conventional system but something beckons you beyond that, and you’re not even sure how to explain it. Your "
13 " becomes a song service instead of living at the Father’s pleasure. Fellowship is attending a congregational meeting instead of real friendships with other followers. Teaching is a lecture on Sunday morning, instead of illuminating the next step in someone’s journey. Authority is derived from a position in an institution instead of speaking God’s heart accurately. One can be a good Christian by fitting into a set of expectations and still not know Jesus or the transforming power he gives. "
14 " the new creation thrives in an environment of freedom and love and depends on transformation coming from within, not conformity imposed from without. But that takes time and rare is the man, woman, or institution that can long refuse the urge to give people rules to follow instead of help to discover a transformative relationship with a loving Father. The demands of religion and the needs of an institution for conformity are perfectly aligned so as to make the path of human effort virtually irresistible. It can yield quick results externally, while it saps the vitality of the Gospel. "
15 " we create an environment, define the rules by which it works, and then encourage people to conform, we lose the spirit of that family. There’s a reason why dysfunctional families and shattered relationships hurt so deeply. We were created for something better. We are designed for connection and sharing a depth of love others can rely on. That’s "
16 " love—not imposed order—is the nature of his church. That’s why his church is a family: a Father inviting us to take our place in his home; an older brother, Jesus, who empathizes with our struggles and offers us grace in time of need; a Spirit who empowers us; and brothers and sisters who can live alongside us with love and honor. The church reflects the best of what a family can be. It is "
17 " God of the universe loves you more than anyone on this planet ever has or ever will. "
18 " Jesus is building this church by quietly bringing together a family so rich and vast that she doesn’t need the religious conventions we’ve used to contain her. "
19 " simply following what Jesus put on my heart and loving people around me, I found myself living squarely in the middle of the church life I had been hungering for all those years. I didn’t "
20 " church Jesus builds is a family living in the growing reality of his affection. That’s why Jesus said he would build his church because we are not capable of doing so and our attempts have always distorted her image and hurt others in the process in spite of whatever good they have done. Jesus established his church by inaugurating a new creation of men and women who would live beyond the human conventions of society. It can only be expressed in the interaction of lives he is transforming. "
