This Sunday, Steve Warrington used an old “Who” tune and the 105th psalm to ask us all a very important question: “Who are you?” I LOVE the answer he provided to that question: “In the end, we are dumb, dirty, defenseless sheep…who follow an awesome Shepherd!” I couldn’t be happier with that description of the growing numbers of people who invest so much of their time, resources, and talents into making this thing we call actionchurch a reality.
As I thought about that question after the service Sunday, I couldn’t help think about a few things that actionchurch is NOT. Things that many people have thought actionchurch “IS” but have turned out NOT to be true. I made a little list Sunday…Maybe you can think of more.
actionchurch is NOT a building or location. When we began, much of our identity as a church came from being “that church that meets in a bar”. Today, many people get to know us as “that church that meets in a movie theater”. Many thought that actionchurch wouldn’t be “actionchurch” when we moved from Fat Daddies Nightclub…when we moved from Club 19…when we moved into Frank Theaters. Over the years it’s become apparent that a building or location is just that…a PLACE to gather…NOT what gives us our identity.
actionchurch is NOT a preacher of leader. In the first three years of the church, I preached almost every sunday. When I occasionally…and I mean OCCASIONALLY was gone for the week, we brought in outside “guest” speakers, attendance dropped dramatically, and church felt VERY different from a “normal” actionchurch service. Today, that has changed completely. Some of our very BEST sundays are those when members of our leadership team other than me take over the teaching responsibilities. They all have different styles and personalities…but it’s still 100% actionchurch! actionchurch has officially moved past being about ONE preacher or leader, in fact, I predict July will be our best month ever…and apparently I’m not scheduled to speak until the 5th Sunday. :-)
actionchurch is NOT about musical style or genre. Over the years, many people have associated actionchurch with the bands that play on Sunday morning. We’ve been called “that rock n roll church” and of course “that church that is way tooooo loud” The truth is, we’ve now covered almost ever Genre of music that Steve mentioned Sunday except for perhaps “stoner rock”. It can be country. It can be metal. It can be quiet. It can be loud. It’s still actionchurch.
actionchurch is NOT an “organization”. …at least not a very “organized” one. actionchurch has no org chart. The only job titles we use are usually for sarcastic or mocking purposes. No one gets a salary. There are no benefits (except for hard work and constant sarcastic comments and jokes about you from your fellow crew members) We don’t have an office. We barely maintain an email list. Somehow though, amazing things happen each week. People work HARD…really hard. Tough jobs are tackled and great creativity happens. It’s the best “unorganized” organization I’ve ever been fortunate enough to be part of…all because of ONE thing.
We are Dumb, Dirty, Defenseless sheep who serve an AWESOME Shepherd, that is where we get our identity as a church. And, because of him, we’re very serious about Loving God, Loving people, and Taking action as he modeled and commanded!
16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.- Jesus (Matthew 5:16)