Of course, the spiritual life, including worship, ministry, applying the gifts of the Spirit, should extend outside the walls of the church. God told man to work and keep the garden, which in the eschaton is the whole creation. Church can become a "thing we do" which becomes disconnected from the rest of our life.
As you compare the importance of excellence in what happens in the church building with the risk of it becoming a black hole for attention and resources, I am wondering what your perspective is on the question of what the purpose of the church building is, exactly. This, of course, will influence your perspective on how much attention to church services is too much.
Is church a place where people go to hear the Word and get wisdom? Is it a place where it is advantageous and economical in helping newcomers repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Is it a place where the faithful gather to be spiritually fed by an intense worship experience? Is it all of these things together? All of these things can happen outside the walls of the church building. Are the purposes of church dynamic and approximate, then?
Is the church building "capital T" Tradition (God commands it, not optional)? Or is it "little t" tradition (it is useful, makes a lot of sense, but strictly speaking an optional practice)? Going by the New Testament alone, we are taught, perhaps, that Christians should gather together regularly to worship (Hebrews 10:25), but it does not prescribe meeting specifically on Sunday.
I have thought about how to reply to this comment and I honestly think the best response is just to say that I think an entirely separate post should be made about this - perhaps a part 2.
Full disclosure, this original post was taken from a chapter of a book I am writing and intend to release next year. Perhaps a fuller discussion of the proper role of centralized church services could be fleshed out here and then transported back into my book.
Of course, the spiritual life, including worship, ministry, applying the gifts of the Spirit, should extend outside the walls of the church. God told man to work and keep the garden, which in the eschaton is the whole creation. Church can become a "thing we do" which becomes disconnected from the rest of our life.
As you compare the importance of excellence in what happens in the church building with the risk of it becoming a black hole for attention and resources, I am wondering what your perspective is on the question of what the purpose of the church building is, exactly. This, of course, will influence your perspective on how much attention to church services is too much.
Is church a place where people go to hear the Word and get wisdom? Is it a place where it is advantageous and economical in helping newcomers repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Is it a place where the faithful gather to be spiritually fed by an intense worship experience? Is it all of these things together? All of these things can happen outside the walls of the church building. Are the purposes of church dynamic and approximate, then?
Is the church building "capital T" Tradition (God commands it, not optional)? Or is it "little t" tradition (it is useful, makes a lot of sense, but strictly speaking an optional practice)? Going by the New Testament alone, we are taught, perhaps, that Christians should gather together regularly to worship (Hebrews 10:25), but it does not prescribe meeting specifically on Sunday.
I have thought about how to reply to this comment and I honestly think the best response is just to say that I think an entirely separate post should be made about this - perhaps a part 2.
Full disclosure, this original post was taken from a chapter of a book I am writing and intend to release next year. Perhaps a fuller discussion of the proper role of centralized church services could be fleshed out here and then transported back into my book.