Today I was driving home from church making a couple of stops along the way. I was texting back and forth with a friend about our idea of starting a home church and discipleship group. This texting only took place at the various stops I made, so, no worries. I promise. Okay...soooo, one question he asked was what denomination I came from. We only have really known each other for a couple months so we're still only now finding out this kinda stuff about each other.
I gotta say, I don't know what denomination I'm from. Now I know that the natural response would be, "Well, that's easy, Jason. This means you're of the 'non-denominational' denomination." Well, I'm really not sure that's true. I'll admit I like saying that I go to a non-denominational church; but mostly just because it gives me a quick answer to be able to give people when they ask. Not to mention the quick answer to the question that inevitably follows: "Where is our church? It's right past Time Out." However even in doing so, there's something that nags at me every time I say "non-denominational." And today when that same feeling came, a crazy question popped up in my head.
Jason, if you were to start a denomination what would you call it?
Let me pump the brakes. I don't want anybody thinking that you're going to start seeing me on telly talking about a comet that's drawing close to Earth and next thing you know me and a bunch of followers took a ride up to go meet it.
If you happen to be a part of my church family, you also don't have to worry about getting together on next Sunday morning and one of your topics of conversation being that crazy home-church hippie that was here one week playing drums and gone the next to wear camel hair, eat locusts and wild honey never to be seen or heard from again. I digress.
I spent so much of today breaking it apart in my head and defining it a hundred different ways; and mostly doing so since starting to write this blog post. So in the interest of keeping it simple, I would have to call my denomination the Jesus Denomination. What does this mean? Literally, everything I do would go through him first. Everything. But here's the kicker. Not only every thing I do, but every way I do it.
I just see him taking everything I bring to him and throwing me the exact opposite.
Me: Jesus, I'm worthless.
Jesus: No you're not. And while you're at it, since you're worth something to me, why not just take it one step further and be worth everything to me? Just go with me on this.
Me: I'm never going to change.
Jesus: You're a new creation.
Me: I don't wanna do anything.
Jesus: Well you better go out and do something. And while you're at it, do it for Me.
Me: I love working!
Jesus: When's the last time you were still?
Me: Where are you?
Jesus: Are you in your comfort zone?
Me: Yes.
Jesus: I'm not there, that's for sure.
Me: I love having a ton of friends!
Jesus: Take one guy with ya and go where you might be hated.
Me: Oh I see. Okay. I'm gonna stay a small time operation.
Jesus: Add three thousand to your number...right now.
Me: I'm the bomb!
Jesus: ........
Me: Jesus?
Jesus: I thought you were the bomb.
Me: This is starting to feel less like a religion and more like a relationship.
Jesus: Ya think?
Me: Every time I bring something to you, you challenge it.
Jesus: I love you.
Me: Whenever I think I've got it together, you change that.
Jesus: I love you.
Me: I messed up again! Surely you're done with me this time.
Jesus: I love you.
That's what my denomination would look like if I started one! And one of the neat things is that the only common ground I would look to share with you from the beginning is an easy one. All you'd have to do is agree with the statement, "Isn't it weird how there's one man in the history of the universe no longer in his tomb and the world is still wondering who they should follow?" My reasoning for that being the only initial common ground is that I'm confident once we've established that much, the rest would come eventually.
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