“And these God-chosen lives all around – what splendid friends they make!” Psalm 16.3
My wife’s best friend stopped by today and we shared church.
Admittedly, I carried a worry chip around wondering what she would think. The church we attended is a “pub” church. Anticipation, presumption, and biases often precede one’s visit to a church meeting each week in a basement pub full of smells, creatures, and memories nobody would want to remember.
Coco approached the experience differently. Fighting off jetlag, she went after the experience with mind and heart open. When our memories were filled, we walked away carrying at least one blessing, I know I carry two.
Pub church is a bit different from most church experiences.
People come in and have a drink.
People take the time to introduce themselves and get acquainted before anything formal begins.
People young enough to be my sons and daughters create a worship experience.
People sing, dance, talk, pray, and worship.
Many church experiences include these elements.
The meeting place is a bit different.
The room is dark and grimy without a hint of stain glass.
The music is raw and loud with no room for a pipe organ.
The people are up front and friendly with no society labels in sight.
The meeting place isn’t what makes the pub church different.
The pub church brings something most churches ask for but do not really want.
People ask God to be there and he is. People ask God to be real and he is.
People ask God to send The Holy Spirit. You can watch God work on people’s lives right in front of you. You can see the Holy Spirit moving in, among, and through people.
The pub church isn’t unique but it is very different from most church experiences.
Coco experienced God last night. I experienced God last night. Friends shared God in the pub church. That is what “church” is about; friends celebrating God together, friends seeking God together, friends realizing God chose them before they knew Him.
“And what splendid friends they make.”
