Putting your money where your mouth is

The more I learn about Rob Bell, the more I admire him. I suppose one of the criticisms leveled at the "Mega Churches" is the fear that they are more about a cult-like following of one man than they are about the pursuit of Jesus. When I think about Rob Bell, and Mars Hill, what I'm thrilled about is what God is doing through the church, and Rob happens to be the spiritual leader. He's a compelling speaker, and I must admit that I prefer weeks when he is teaching, but more than anything, I'm excited to see how God is using Mars Hill and Rob Bell.

Today was a bit of a question and answer session, where Rob was interviewed using questions emailed in from members of the congregation. One question was quite personal, asking Rob where he felt Christ was working in his life right now. He answered by talking about his and his wife's passion for the oppressed in our city. In the past year or so, as they struggled with the question of what to do about that oppression, they felt that God was calling them to do more, to take a bold step outside of their comfort zone.

They sold their four bedroom house in suburbia and bought a two bedroom house in the inner city. They enrolled their children in the local public school. Drug deals happen on the corner, and a policeman who attends Mars Hill learned where Rob lives and told him to be careful. But what Rob said is that he wants to be where darkness is, that he wants the light of Christ to shine where people are hurting and in desperate need of relief from their painful lives.

I was blown away by this example of sacrificial living, and it became one more reason why I'm convinced Mars Hill is the place fore me.

As I've reflected on my return to the church over the past couple of months, I've become aware of why church has become important to me. It's not so much the need for community--I haven't yet really gotten "plugged in" at Mars, and I feel that my closest friends are in a very real sense my community right now. What I realize is that church each week is a reminder of what's truly genuine and authentic in this world, and an injection of passion and zeal to see this earth healed. When I am at church, hearing about the need to give of ourselves to the world around us, to lay down our lives for others, to give generously of our resources and of our lives, there is a stirring within me of recognition, a recognition and a knowing that this is what our lives must be about. As the week passes, I so easily forget this, but each Sunday, this becomes rekindled in me, and hopefully, some of that passion and zeal will stick with me throughout the week.

It seems each week as I sit at church, there is always a moment where I just say, "yup...I kinda forgot this week what it's all about, didn't I?" All the competing jetsam of life is blast to smithereens in the face of what God wants to do with this world, and I suppose more importantly, how I can be involved in that work.

I think that's a reason to keep going to church.