you are the Church.

What if the Church is not just somewhere you go on Sundays? What if the Church is not just something we do once a week? What if the Church is who we are every minute of our lives? What if…?

These are not new questions, but they are the kinds of questions I lay awake at night thinking about.

What did Jesus have in mind when he told Peter to “feed my sheep?” I doubt he was concerned with whether Peter would establish a building where we go for one or two hours a week. I doubt Jesus was thinking of religious institutions, denominations, and sects. I doubt Jesus was worried about how spiritual Peter would feel. Jesus simply gave Peter a mission that would define Peter’s entire life, not just his actions on some Holy Day.

Friends, you don’t go to church; you are the Church. Everywhere you go, you are the Church. Everywhere you go, Christ is in you, wanting to use you to transform the world around you. This is the Kingdom of Heaven. As Brian McLaren explains, in using the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven,” Jesus was using language that was easily accessible to his listeners. They expected their leader to establish a certain kind of kingdom – a political one, a kingdom that is very much of this world. But in Jesus’ Kingdom, the last will be first. In Jesus’ Kingdom, the poor and the hungry are blessed. In his Kingdom, prodigals are embraced. Outcasts are invited. Enemies are loved.

Jesus’ Kingdom was out of this world. It was Heavenly. A Kingdom of Heaven.

Nowadays, he might have said “The Family of Heaven” or “The Network of Heaven.” Those are terms we can understand. Whatever you call it, it is about working to restore God’s Creation to the way he intended for it to be. Whatever you want to call it, Jesus wants to bring it down to Earth and he wants to do it through you.

This is the purpose of the Church. We have the opportunity to change the world around us, one person at a time. Maybe we don’t think we can change the world. Maybe we don’t think we’re strong enough. Let’s read the scriptures together. I’ll show you the kind of people God uses to change the world – a chronically self-doubting Moses; an adulterer and a murder, David; a ragtag group of fishermen and tax collector disciples; and a terrorist by the name of Saul.

I believe these Bible stories are important to read and know. When I read them, I say “if God can use them, he can certainly use me.” And so we start getting the point – hey, maybe it’s not about how good we are at all. It’s about how good God is. It’s not a story about us. This is God’s story.

And we get to live out God’s story every day. It’s a story of redemption. It’s a story of love. It’s a story of grace. It’s a story with a happy ending, and we get to be a part of it.

God has a place for you in his ongoing story. I promise.

With love,

a young shepherd.