The “Underground”
    At our weekly The Journey @… we talked about a very cool idea. “The Journey @…” is our faith community’s once a week “discussion” in a public place. We don’t get together to debate the fate of the world or anything like that, but we do share life, stories (funny and serious), and sometimes talk spiritual matters.ÂÂÂ
     Jason, our lead pastor, discussed the possibility of having a monthly worship gathering at a barn or other very odd, somewhat secretive place. For those of you in metropolitan areas, maybe the basement of a nightclub or the roof of a tall building. Word of mouth would be the only publicity the gathering would receive. It wouldn’t be the megachurch flash-and-trash method, but the relationally driven, interconnectedness(?) of friends and family. The physical location as well as the “advertising” method would help lend a subversive feel to the event. Maybe it starts small with only a handful of people. Maybe people begin to talk about how the event impacted them and they spread the word to both believers and seekers, desiring others to experience the raw essence of the Gospel, the dangerous, two thousand year old, un-subdued rebellion.ÂÂÂ
     Someone at the table said, “It (the secrecy) sounds kind of like a cult.” Isn’t that the way Jesus and his followers were seen by many? People debating about whether or not to crush the rebellion (Acts 5:35-39). As Bibles have become coffee table books and the Cross a piece of jewlery, the American church as a whole has lost the origins of the Gospel. We have forgotten (if we ever knew!) the historical and cultural danger surrounding the genesis of our message. Religious freedom has hindered the cause in America, not helped.
     I know many will disagree, and that is certainly welcome. But what of the idea of the gathering? What if we could live our lives with the determination and intentionality of the early Church? What if a movement began that no one could pinpoint, something under the surface causing restlessness and peace, tearing down the foundations yet building back with bedrock, lives devastated yet reborn.ÂÂÂ
     What do you think?
January 17th, 2006 at 3:50 am
that’s the best way to get the word out–make it a secret.
January 17th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Sounds great!
January 21st, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Thanks for stopping by my site and for your words of encouragement.
I read this post of yours and had to comment! My “faith-community” sounds very similar to yours. It’s called the Spring and we’re currently underground, meaning that our official gathering happens once a week in a home and once a month or so we do a bigger event to draw people in. Rarely do we “advertise” our gatherings — the people who seek to come are usually those who are relationally driven, as I think you put it above. It’s really encouraging to me to find someone else who is part of a community that has similar characteristics to mine. Sometimes we feel that there’s no one else like us and it’s cool to meet you!