The End of Four-Wall Christianity by Michael L. Brown for Ask Dr Brown
It will be great when we can gather together again in our church buildings, freely and without restriction, to worship and pray and hear the teaching of God’s Word. But it’s also great that we are being forced to think outside the box – and that means thinking outside of the four walls of our buildings.
The fact is, the people we want to reach live outside our buildings, and rather than expecting them to come to us, we should do our best to go to them.
It’s also true that the “four-wall” church mentality lends itself to a form of spectator Christianity, where we show up once a week to enjoy a great performance. What worship! What preaching! What a service! And that’s it. The “laity” sits back while the “clergy” performs, then we go out for a nice family meal and go on with our normal lives.
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That is not the faith or practice of the New Testament. That is not the gospel lived out. That is not being the church rather than going to church. That is not what Jesus died for.
We are called to be a Body, and every member of the Body plays an essential role. And all of us, as followers of Jesus, are called to participate in the Great Commission, either by prayer or by sharing our faith or by giving financially or by all of the above.
We should live this and breathe this and think about this as a major part of our mission here on earth: we are here to be disciples and to make disciples.
Now, with the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, we have a great opportunity to do a major reset, to ask some deeper questions, and to say, “Here I am Lord! Send me and use me.”
Before I came to faith in late 1971, I was a heavy drug user, doing everything from pot to heroin (and beyond). I also played drums in a rock band and loved going to rock concerts, all of which meant total immersion. And so I jumped into the drugs and rock scene with complete abandon, giving my body and mind to the music and to drugs, literally holding back nothing.
