Church without walls

Over the past couple of weeks, I have heard this mentioned several times by very committed Christians: "I wish the church would have a greater 'kingdom perspective' rather than just a 'local church' perspective. And I agreed heartily with my friends. This is an issue that has made it difficult for me to accept positions of leadership in church. I observe with much disappointment that we are very 'territorial', each church running ministries on their own, even though the possibility of joining with neighboring churches might prove much more effective in terms of resources. We tend to have to have our 'church label' on things we do. Sometimes, this is done for practical reasons, and for logistics of course, but more often than not, other subtle dynamics are at work. The church thrives - but the real 'kingdom of God' might suffer diminishment due to such attitudes.

I know it is easy to 'criticize' from the perspective of a non-leader. There are probably many good reasons not to work together, and in the end there is no commandment to do so.

I think about these things on and off because the people I hear speak from their heart, and struggle with the thick walls they encounter. Some people are very involved in their churches and feel pained as they begin to experience the 'kingdom of God' in a new way. Their perspective broadens, and they feel tied down by the bureaucracy. Again, as for so many things in life (thus speaks the person who has 'arrived' at mid-life or beyond), there are no easy answers. There are no prescriptions that will solve the way we do things. In the end, God's kingdom is like a mustard seed. It will grow, it will thrive to great proportions. And even the farmer who sows seeds does not know how the plants come up - yet they do. For God makes all things grow, in spite of our hard headedness and lack of cooperation.

I think I've thought this through like a person of Enneagram number One. The idealist, the perfectionist who gets entangled with how things 'should be' (when I am more critical) or 'could be' (when I face my own weakness and keep hope in loving tension alongside reality).

Mid life growth, I read somewhere, involves "letting go of expectations and of people, yet finding a way to do it without letting go of hope".