playing the game of church

"I see people who sit in church week after week and don't really act out their faith, or they stay really weak in their faith. They've figured out the game. They can come in and sing a few songs and tune out the message until it's over, and they think they're spiritual because they sat through it all.
"Going to church week after week doesn't make you spiritual. You need to be the church. We, all of us, are ministers. We should be doing church, not just going to a building. You've got to be involved, plugged in, and using your spiritual gifts" - Brock Gill - Christian Illusionist (quoted from TPE April 20, 2008)

When I read this article, it got me pumped because I'm excited to belong to a church where most people don't play the game and get by with bare minimum spirituality. So many Crossroaders ARE the church and understand that spirituality is about so much more than just punching the church time clock. So much of my passion about Life Groups is wrapped up in the fact that I get to see people pressing closer to God. If people choose to lead a group, they lean closer to Him for help and guidance to be the spiritual leader He has made them to be for the sake of others who are not as mature. When people choose to be a part of a group, they go beyond the corporate setting of a Sunday morning and "plug in" to the challenge of being authentic and breaking through to personal growth as they live and walk closer to Jesus. I think that, more than anything else is what fires me up, spurs me on, and motivates me to do more than I even thought possible.

I suppose it's all about the choice, though, because it's really up to us. We choose our attitude, our actions, whom we talk to, where we go, how we respond when others offend us, how much time we spend pressing into God, where we lead, whom we follow, where we serve. It's all about choice. Let's choose more of Him, and let Him choose for us when we don't know the right choice, or when we're tempted not to move beyond our own fleshly desires. Because we can choose to go to church or we can choose to be the church. I personally choose the latter. How about you?