Imagine if church was like a restaurant and you were offered menu choices… “Would you like the lunch or dinner menu today?”

That actually reminds me of an experience I had.  I had been invited to sing at a church and was able to be at their midweek meetings which met at the pastor’s home, and also their Sunday morning worship services held at their church building.  Same “restaurant”, different menu!  My first taste was actually the midweek gathering, and what a gathering it was!  Glorious in every respect!  How can I even describe it?  It pulsated with life!  So deep was the impression it made on me that even though it’s been 15 years, I can remember it as if it was yesterday: The freedom, the joy, the awe, the seriousness, the singing, the koinonia, the presence of God… it was all soooo TANGIBLE!  “This”, I thought, “is what gathering together should be!”  Gathered in that living room were a ton of mostly college kids who sought God, and it showed.  It was “Jesus centered” in worship, and marked by authenticity, vulnerability and transparency as those gathered poured out their hearts to each other and Him.  It was also contagious.  I went back many times just to be a part of what God was doing among them.  (These return trips did NOT include me being there to sing.)  I was there because GOD was there, and His people were there, and honestly I couldn’t imagine NOT wanting to be there!

If midweek was dinner, Sunday was lunch.  Someone switched the menu!  Imagine my surprise when I arrived for the Sunday morning worship service and it was NOTHING like the midweek gathering I had experienced.  It was like going to a seafood restaurant on Wednesday with all it’s nautical decor and tasty fish, then going back for more on Sunday because it was so good… only to find out they were now a burger joint!  (And not an especially good burger joint.  It was like a dry hamburger and stale bun!  What happened to the fish??  Where was that tasty, salty, seafood?)

Many people believe that “form” makes no difference to the church.  I beg to differ!  These were basically the same people, (mostly the same college kids coming together with a wider age range of the church).  The same pastor led both meetings.  The difference was the form, and the expectations people had of living within that form of church!  You cannot tell me that form doesn’t matter.  Form and function go together like a hand in a glove.  That’s why people act a certain way at formal gatherings, and act completely different at a backyard BBQ.  It makes ALL the difference to the church what form we adopt.

At the risk of sounding, “unspiritual”, the gathering of the New Testament Church is much more like a BBQ than a black tie affair.  The gathering of the church is all about family.  It’s not about a “special event” where we dress up to look the part.  The midweek gathering of this church rang so true simply because it was true; the informal form allowed for the family style function!