Anyone who has seen the movie Field of Dreams is familiar with this concept. For those who maybe have slept since the last time they saw the movie, the phrase is something that the main character, played by Kevin Cosner, hears repeated. The idea is that if he will build a baseball field in his corn field, some of the old, legendary baseball players will come. So, he obediently responds, building a baseball field, and as the voice promised, they come. If you are a baseball fan, it is a great movie, which is something big for Kevin Cosner, especially since movie blockbusters like Waterworld! Of course that is another blog for another day.
The problem with this phrase is that it is what many of the modern churches have adopted as their philosophy of ministry. If they can build a nonthreatening, user-friendly building that houses programs for every season, every mood, every age, then people will come. However, I am not so sure that is what the mission of the church is. Now, please don't get me wrong, I am not against the gathering of the church, nor am I against programs...well at least all of them. What I am tired of is the church first of all being only a place where people gather. The church is the people. It is the people both gathered and scattered. We are the church when we are on the highway, when we are with our children, when we speak to our spouses, when we are alone. We cannot cease being the church.
The second thing I am tired of is the complacent church that builds programs and expects people to come. The church that opens the doors and says..."come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth" while the least of these are dying in the streets. As I read James 1:27 I am reminded what true religion is, which is what the church should be practicing, "Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world."(The Message) Real religion is the church reaching out...going into the community...penetrating the godless world. That is what Jesus did. He reached out to the homeless and gave them a place to lay their head. He reached out to the loveless and touched them with hands of mercy. However, at the same time he guarded himself against corruption with his relationship with the Father. We too, must reach out to the homeless and loveless where they are. We must be willing to love the lepers who daily walk our streets. Yet, while we reach we must remember whose we are, so that we can guard ourselves from the flaming arrows of the enemy.
After all, the church really isn't a field of dreams. It is a field of destiny!
Saturday, October 04, 2003