Noah's Ark

Joanna came to visit today and, I have to say, it was a blast. We didn't do anything spectacular or off-the-charts, but it was really fun to be with her and we did make peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocoloate-chip cookies which are really awesome. But speaking of charts, we did make a chart for me to keep baseball standings updated while I'm here over the summer. I must say, its a very sexy chart. You'll have to see it sometime. But, alas, she had to leave today, and next weekend, she'll be in Texas as well as the following weekend. Basically, this means I'm going to be bored and lonely for about two weeks. Woohoo.

I decided to set aside some time tonight to share a little about my experience thus far as an intern. I have to say, this experience is far better than my devil-camp experience*, but it has been incredibly challenging. Not really because the work is hard or anything along those lines, but because God is challenging the way that I view His church.

I've never been a part of a mega-church before, and while Newpointe isn't a huge church, it is definitely the biggest I've been a part of. With over 4000 attending on a Sunday, it far exceeds what I've been a part of before. This is a struggle for me, honestly. I'm excited to see how God is moving in this church, but I also wonder about quite a few things. I have yet to come to many conclusions about my views of the church, but I've taken to reading three solid pieces this summer about different views of the church. I'm reading Acts (seems like a really good place to start**), Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, and An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus. Each present their own view on some part of the church, and I love comparing and contrasting how each one portrays it. But rather than posting my unresolved thoughts on certain matters, I will leave you, faithful audience (hi mom and dad), with the main issues I'm struggling through.

1. How relevant should the church be in today's world? As far as allowing culture in, shaping culture, or shying away from it, how far should we go? How "seeker-friendly" should the church be? The church is offensive at some point, but where is that and how are we to approach it?
2. Where do numbers come into play? Should we look at numbers in the church at all, or just leave that up to God? Should we count how many people came to Christ, or should we just be thankful?
   
3. What is the point of a youth group? Should we have them?
4. What about the poor? How much money should we spend on signs and how much should we give away? Is a 15million dollar (real number) building too much or worth the expense to make people feel comfortable inside the building? (I've pretty much already decided my feelings on this one, but that's for another post.)

Needless to say, this has been a stretching summer so far, and I know that Jesus isn't quite done yet. I heard this analogy from Shane Claiborne when he came to speak at Taylor: The church is kind of like Noah's Ark - it smells really bad and is cramped and uncomfortable, but if you get off, you drown.

I look forward to sharing stories with you all at some point and hearing your thoughts on these things as well.

*It wasn't a satanic camp or anything, but it sucked. Ask for more details and you shall receive a long explanation that you won't really want to hear.
**Get it, "start"? I'm so punny.