Comments on: What would happen…

By: Camel RIder

Camel RIder — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:31:59 +0000

The other question is, “If we closed our doors, would anybody notice? Would our community change?”

By: kristin

kristin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:01:25 +0000

you know, this begs another comment from me. its a little off the subj from what you are actually asking here but i discussed something on sunday with our group and that is one of our favorite topics, “the Priesthood of all Believers.” After all, Peter calls us a “royal priesthood.” In other words, we are to be kings (or queens) and priests. you cant really have one without the other and be fully what you are supposed to be (thats the conclusion i am at right now). anyway, churches closing their doors would hugely impact this idea (which i believe is at the heart of God). Sams post reminded me.
in Ex before Moses ever even brought down the 10 commandments there is a time where God has the nation of Israel (newly freed slaves) at the base of his mountain (the one where he told them if they touched it, they would die. i believe this to equate to flippantly approaching the presence of the Lord). Anyway, he asked them at one point (and they could all hear his voice right now) to approach the mountain. I think he was inviting them to ALL be priests bc if you will remember no “priesthood” like what we came to know later had been established at this point. scripture says they all went and stood far off. They feared. They told Moses they didnt want God to speak to them. They wanted God to speak to him and they would listen to him (Moses). Anway, this is extremely profound and i wonder, just wonder, if Israel had approached the mountain that day (the darkness where God was) what would have happened! how would history be different!?… if we would have ever had the Levites become the only priests….etc.etc.etc. it kind of makes my mind want to explode thinking about how the history of religion and, therefore the world, would have changed if Israel had approached the mountain that day. (and yes, a lot of the “that is your job and my job is to come to church” mentality has seeped into the coc).
Anyway, this story makes me think, among other things throughout the Bible and even right down to Revelation, that Gods heart has always been for all of us to be priests…to usher in the Kingdom wherever we are in our own special way (always connected to him)…pointing others to Him.
Anyway, churches closing their doors and therefore empowering (or forcing) the church to take matters into ALL of their own hands would highly impact the Priesthood, I think.

By: kristin

kristin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:50:52 +0000

hm, interesting blog. i hope churches dont close their doors (well, not all of them). i think we need both…”big” church and “house” churches. our house church fellowship keeps back 10% of our giving for each home church to invest in our communities and neighborhoods however God leads us to. I think its a great thing…an invaluable resource for us. none of us do “big” church anymore but like i said, i think both can be good things. both can be bad things.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:28:01 +0000

The parish I attend is the focal point for many ministries, all of which would fade if the parish wasn’t there to encourage and support. It would be nice if we could bypass the building upkeep and general friction of maintaining a church community, but we can’t. The parish is the focal point that draws us into stewardship, without it, there would be no ministries. To respond to Sam, yes they would disengage, and that is why we support our parishes, so they don’t disengage. Some would fight the good fight, but most need a nudge. That is why the church is here on earth.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Churches would no longer be in the business of merely continuing their own existence. Without paid staff to do the work of the Kingdom for them, people would be forced to either engage in doing Kingdom work together or disengage from Christianity. I’m afraid most would disengage, which begs the question, were they ever really engaged in the first place?

By: Roland

Roland — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:38:01 +0000

When you say invest in the community, do you mean on your own or thru an organization? From my experience, 1. people would not really know how to best invest if left to their own, 2. too many non-profits (such as United Way) have WAY too much overhead and only a fraction of your money goes to actual help and 3. giving any money to a Govco run charity is just as good as throwing it down the drain.

Now, I am not naive enough to think that churches don’t have needless overhead or waste but, for the most part, it is much less than other national non-profits and big time less than Govco.

The comment that many people would just take the money and go buy a bigger house….yeah, no doubt.

By: Darin

Darin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:38:33 +0000

The truth? A large percentage wouldn’t get anything back.

I’ve never felt obligated to give to a church if it isn’t doing anything to impact the community. In the past we gave to Children’s homes like Maude Carpenter and others. We supported children around the world.

At one stop we doubled the output of the church by matching everything the church did so we defacto doubled their benevolence.

The elders may not like it but it can be done.

Now since our church did nearly $5,000 worth of dental work last week at no charge and since we gave school supplies to nearly 600 students with 540 getting a backpack our members don’t have to worry about whether or not their giving impacts the community. They get to see it on a regular basis.

By: MC

MC — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:23:05 +0000

A local church did a reverse offering, telling people to take the money out of the contribution plate and offer to someone else as a random act of kindness. It was the Unleashed campaign at Gracepoint. Check out this link and read the stories.

http://www.gracepoint.com/UNLEASH/UNLEASHtheBlessing/Stories/default.aspx

By: Todd karaokes John Lennon… « Douglas and Main

Todd karaokes John Lennon… « Douglas and Main — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:43:14 +0000

[...] August 7, 2008 · No Comments Todd adds his own lyrics to Imagine and asks us to imagine what would happen if… churches shut their buildings’ doors, gave the members their contributions back and encouraged the… [...]

By: Bobby Rozzell

Bobby Rozzell — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:42:58 +0000

1. Building committees would spontaneously form
2. Bible printing companies would close down since no one would buy more than the one they wanted.
3. Orange carpet industry completely collapses
4. Lots and lots of angry people who didn’t give but can’t understand why the church is not giving them a “fair share” any way.
5, Westboro Baptist declares itself the only official church in the world..oh wait.they already do that.