Life is always changing and every day new circumstances arise that bring, sometimes, challenge, learning, wonder and joy, sadness and struggle or a number of different responses from within us. Experience has brought me full circle to again grapple with the question of Church and what it is. The word stems from the Greek word ‘ekklesia’ which means ‘a people assembled’. In Christian terms it has the added meaning of being focused specifically to those called and grafted into ‘the family, the body of Christ’. Its purpose predominantly to worship, fellowship, disciple, minister and mission. But I am left stuck in the tension with all of this as I see more and more failing and disappointment arising both within the church and from the church. I hear the excuse so often, ‘we cannot meet everyone’s needs’ or ‘we are all a bunch of sinners doing our best’ or even ‘that is not the mission we have been given’. And more and more I see people leaving the church or resenting the church or being hurt by the church (or by church institutions) and nothing changes except that the church becomes even more disengaged with the real world out there and people become even more disinterested in what the church is offering. Much of the time, the church offers ministry or mission to serve its own need rather than that of those who it is really meant to be serving. We live in a world full of competition, so churches ‘work at growing in popularity’. We live in a world of limited resources, so churches ‘specialise’. We live in a world of dishonesty so churches ‘limit and scrutinise’ and those who most need the church end up being spat out of it because, largely, they are not able to add value to the agenda of a particular church or because they cannot comply with the conditions that that agenda demands so it can go on unquestioned and unchallenged. So, church quickly becomes a club of compliance where theology is argued and inward looking becomes the norm and the call to ‘love one another as I have loved you’ becomes simply words we see that have no substance. Let’s consider them for a bit. God loved us all so much that he died for us. We are called to love like that. That we would actually die for one another. But we are too busy building our own kingdoms to even be aware of one another let alone to get to the point of loving one another that much. I wonder if this is why the church is becoming such a limping and invalid animal in our current world. I wonder if it’s because we have all forgotten that Church is not just a word but really should be a central attitude of the heart. Where people are either currently embraced and belong or potentially embraced and belong. Where the world is the focus because it is God’s world and everyone and everything in it is important because everyone and everything in it ultimately is reflective of God. Maybe if Church became less a thing we belong to and became more a thing we do … a life we live … every day … maybe then, we might start healing our relationship within ourselves and with the world at large … and then maybe, we can get on with what we have been called to do … to live as followers of Christ … who calls us all to love as he loved … no exceptions.