Clay in the Hands

The other day I was looking through the upcoming concert dates for one of the bands I heard at Rock the Desert two weeks ago.  As I was scrolling through the venues, the name of one of the churches caught my eye – The Third Reformed Church.

Now, many of you know me personally and thus probably know that I have somewhat “unique” sense of humor.  As I read the name of the church, my first thought was, “Third time’s the charm – maybe they got it right this time.”  I mean, how many times does a church need to reform before it gets it right?

After repenting . . .  I began to reflect on the idea of a church needing reform.  Honestly, I think if a church ever thinks it has “arrived,” then the folks probably ought to shut the doors and find a new place to socialize.

The New Testament refers to the church as a body.  I am no anatomy expert but I am pretty sure that when a body stops growing and changing, it needs to be buried because it is dead.

The church should be seen from the same perspective.  The church should never stop growing and changing – adapting to the environment in order to minister in a relevant way.  (Now don’t hear me say that the message should be changed – just the way we minister)  Just as individual followers of Jesus are in a constant state of being formed to be more like him, the church should also understand that she is being formed and reformed as well.

Maybe every church should consider putting “reforming” in its title.

Something to think about.