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Being Church

Imagine for a moment that you wake up tomorrow morning and discover that God has plunked you down in a place where Christianity is illegal. There is no section in the Yellow Pages listing churches. There are no cathedrals, no church buildings. You know only a small handful of people who seem sympathetic to the idea of Christianity, but you don't know them well. Your current network of Christian friends/family live far away and they are available to you only by phone or by mail.

What would you do? How would you go about being the church in that place? What would God have you do?

Assume the following:
- the rest of your life is just like your current situation
- you have the same kind of job, same income
- you live in the same kind of neighborhood
- you have the same time, money, and energy constraints you currently have

What would you do? How would you go about being the church in that place? What would your priorities be?
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Comments

bluggier said…
I don't know if your priorities would be everybody's priorities, but they're good things to do. I think it would be prudent to make sure one's own relationship with God was good and communication was good back and forth.
Next would be to see if there were others in the same situation. Also would be to ask God what He intends for us to do in this situation.
Helpless, utter dependence. Those are the words I think of when I think of that situation.
December 23, 2007 at 5:20 PM
Anonymous said…
I believe that Satan's #1 strategic objective is isolation. He knows that if he can isolate us, he can keep us from being effective. My first thought is that I would move.

But, this is not significantly different that the reality that most surburban Christians find themselves. Many of us have never meet or neighbors...
January 1, 2008 at 8:09 AM
John said…
Time to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. I have found myself being a "covert" Christian before, but not for the same reason as the scenario you describe. All of our props would be removed wouldn't they? No more building, no more advertising, no more 503b, etc. I think it would be an authenticating event. Those who truly are going to "be" the church will go on being the church. I am not sure what I would "do." Obviously, our meetings would be moved into our home. I think I would challenge myself and others to continue in selfless acts of Christian charity even though that may put you in harms way. We would stand in the tradition of the pre-Constantinian "Christendom" paradigm back to a more organic type of church, a "movement" rather than an "organization," which may be more of what Jesus had in mind anyway.
April 12, 2008 at 9:09 PM
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