contemplating theology on church.

Note: this was written in about 15 minutes and wasn't well thought out.  I don't have time to reread and edit now.  So, enjoy the complete flow of thoughts from me.

I have been back in the beautiful Grove City, PA since Saturday evening.  I really do love this town.  It would be easier to list all the complaints and problems with a town as small as Grove City, but in reality, I love it.  I love it's quirks and randomness.  I love how little it is.  I love being back here.  For now, this is my home.  This is where I am most me.

But, this week, it is also where I am confused and growing.  I am spending my time living in a duplex with other college students from the greater PA/OH area (and Arizona.  random?  no.  God.) and just learning more about community through Antioch Overflow Experiment.

The thing is, part of AOX is simple church.  Wikipedia basically says the simple church movement claims to be "a Christ-centered community established primarily on relationship both to God and to the other members of the group."

Growing up as a pastor's kid in a traditional church setting, this has given me quite a bit to think about.  First of all, the traditional kind of American church on Sunday mornings is seen as possibly beneficial, but not necessary and not what is the layout of the church in the Bible. Instead, it's about church as a community.  Think Acts 2 when it talks about all the church does in their homes.  This is pretty much what simple church does.  We worship together (awesome, true, free worship), eat together, pray together, play together...

I love this.  I love simple church and 100% believe that this is the kind of community and church that God wants all Christians to be a part of.  But, I still think back on my roots.  A part of me says "yes, the kind of church we have on Sundays is beneficial, but not necessary."  I want to believe that.  But, a part of me holds back.  A part wants to cry out "NO!  I love the traditional American church!  It has to be the right way of doing things!  You have to go to church every Sunday!"

But, then I wonder.  Is that what Christ would have cried out?  I don't know.  I contemplate that.  I guess my greatest struggle right now is that the more I read and study, the more my heart is torn.  The more I study the Bible about this and pray about it, the more I long for a simple church, a church truly modeled after Acts 2.  Yet, the more I love the people in the traditional American church and their hearts in it.  My heart is torn and I don't know what direction to go.  I don't know what to believe theologically about it all.

I've reached a place where I can't turn back.  I can't just go back to the traditional American church and act like I haven't been a part of something different, something I believe is more Scriptural and more driven by the Holy Spirit and less driven by and order of service and religiosity.  Yet, I can't just run ahead and leave behind my church in New Wilmington or my dad's church in Massachusetts.  

Right now, I'm going to try to continue to be a part of a simple church, but I'm not giving up on the traditional American church.  I do believe that there is immense value there.  I do believe that the Holy Spirit is there.  God is in the duplex and God is in my traditional church.  I am going to continue studying and praying about this.  I will let you know where it leads me.

If you guys have any thoughts on this, please tell me.  I want to know them.