Matt "Machoo" Mewhorter

My Church

So, with all the commentary I've done about churches, I'm sure you're curious about what I'm doing church wise.

As I mentioned before, I recieved my pastoral lisencing over a year ago. I have a Bachelor's degree in Pastoral Studies. Yet, I am called to be helping my friend Joe with a church plant here in my town called The River while working elsewhere as a counselor. We haven't actually launched yet, and that's a very good thing. Over the past several months, God has been working in our hearts to totally rethink how we are called to reach people in this community.

To summarize, we are a church made up of small groups, that gather once a week on Saturday nights to worship. The vision of the church was to reach the diconnected. For a while, we got really caught up in an extremely 'by the book' structure practically copied from church planting books.  We started putting all of our energies into making Saturday night the coolest church thing in this traditional Virginia town. Over a short time, nearly everybody that started with our church had left. It was devastating to see just about everybody leave, leaving only five of us, Joe and his wife included, meeting in the office house on Saturday nights for worship. We were completely reduced. But it has been in this time that we have been able to slow down and find out that we had been missing the boat with the vision given to this church. We almost completely neglected small groups and the disconnected, appealing only to Christians who got bored with us real quick. The cool stuff flopped big time!!

We are now finally absolutely excited about this church! Why? Because now the vision is sharpened and honed through MUCH trial and error. Before, we just did what we were trained to do in college. Now, we have really seen where to go so clearly that it's hard to contain. Already, within a week, a strange fire is quickly igniting and spreading! THIS is what we are to do. This is it! And the vision is pure and beautiful.

I'll explain it later sometime. ; )

basketball and faith

Sweat oozed down across my forehead, my lungs burned, and I would have been pleased to fall to the ground and die. My body screamed at me to stop this pathetic game of basketball, yet I could not. It was too exhilirating. Too fun. I was engaged with three good friends after we just got done hosting a church service. Now, at 27 years of age, I finally get sports. I get why many people are into it. I finally enjoy and look forward to playing sports with friends.

It wasn't always this way. I literally hated sports for most of my life. I didn't watch sports and I didn't play them. Why? because I'm not naturally athletic. At all. And I gave it a good shot-believe me. I played soccer as a kid, as well as pee-wee football and softball. In junior high I joined the wrestling team and tried out for the basketball team. I was terrible at all of it. I didn't even make the first cut in B-ball tryouts. I was terribly ill-coordinated, I wasn't competative, and my endurance sucked big time. I was into art and good at it. Sports was a lost cause for me. So I ditched the whole world completely as a whole by high school, cringing at anything sports related. It changed somewhat when I started working with teenagers as a youth worker, intern, youth pastor and later as a troubled teens counselor. It forced me into positions where I had to get on the basketball court. During that time, I would hate it and be embarrassed at my blatent lack of ability.

What changed though is when I began to get invited to play basketball just like everyone else. My friends would let me play, and most of all treat me like the rest. I started to feel that I was accepted, whether I ever got better at the game or not (cause I'm still not that great). Lately, they have been cheering me on, telling me I'm improving. I'm starting to make baskets and my defense is getting stronger. I'm getting the game more and more. I actually really like it now.

The big deal in the Church right now is in reaching the disconnected, the lost, and those who aren't Christians. Not growing up in church for me was the same as growing up without natural talents in sports. Those who 'get' Christianity and have been Christians a long time tend to forget or just plain don't know how to truly relate to a clueless bloke like me. For Christians, the life, the culture and rules of Christianity are natural for them.  Many churches, even a lot of cool innovative ones still get into the game like always but unknowingly leave the disconnected to watch from the sidelines. The Christians play their game naturally, assuming that non-Christians will just jump right in. Non-Christians assume you already have to be good to play. You'd be surprised how many actually want to participate, but avoid it for fear of being embarrassed at not being a natural.

I believe that the way of Jesus is caught more than taught. I believe conversion is more gradual for most. The most pure conversions will happen over time I think, and you may never hear about the exact time they "got saved". I think there is too high of a standard in many churches for people to get involved, whether they are a beliver or not. What if a church went into the community, serving others and allowing everyone to join in-regardless of thier faith stance? I think we will see more solid belivers come from non-Christian backgrounds when we live as Jesus taught us to, and let those who are cluesless see this way of life and catch it. 

Okay, enough of the novel. Add your thoughts.