Do you feel like you’re living “under a cloud” or that there is a “cloud hanging over you?” The idea of these ‘cloud’ idioms is darkness, confusion, fear and dread. I know there are people reading this who feel like they are living under a dark cloud covering that will never let up.
Do you remember the account of Jesus’ transfiguration? Peter’s reaction at seeing Jesus with Moses and Elija was to “do” something: "Let us make three tabernacles." But he had hardly got the words out of his mouth when he, James and John were overshadowed by a cloud, from which they heard the voice of God saying, "This is my Son... Listen to him!" (Matt. 17:5). God told Peter it was not a time for doing; it was a time for listening.
While that was a uniquely “divine” cloud, I see an analogy. When you are in a cloud, God is with you, and will speak a word of encouragement. Though I can't tell you your cloud will be lifted, I can say the darkness will fade when you hear His voice. And you will have joy. Think about this: Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud, will return in a cloud, and will take us to heaven in a cloud (Acts 1:9; Luke 21:27: Rev. 11:12). Now that’s a cloud you want to get your head in.
This won’t surprise anyone who knows me well, but I keep a “to-do” list. Especially as I have gotten older (those ‘senior moments are’ more frequent) my lists are indispensable! But in my defense, even young people (the efficient ones!) need to maintain “to-do” lists.
I have learned that one of Satan’s most effective strategies is to keep us so busy ‘doing’ our daily ministry that we fail to remember why we are doing them (this can be especially true of pastors and leaders!). Yes, we were created to do “good works” (Eph. 2:10; James 2:26). But our doing must always be a reflection of our being: who we are. Our “being” in Christ is the source of every impulse and activity. Jesus said ‘I work the works of my father… but I do nothing of my own… but only what pleases the Father’ (John 5:36; 8:29). Likewise, our doing should flow from our intimacy with God—and our desire to please Him.
Too many Christians are so caught up in doing that they describe themselves as ‘doers,’ e.g., “I am a teacher; I am a worship leader; I am a counselor, etc.” But it is not our ‘doing’ that defines us—but our ‘being.’ We should say 'because I AM His workmanship, I DO His work' (Eph. 2:10). Are we not God's human beings?
Whenever someone meets you the first time, he or she will, predictably, ask you two questions: “what do you do?” (meaning where do you work?), and “where do you go to church?” Both questions are intended to identify and define, and even ‘label’, you. Their perception will vary, depending on whether you are a Pentecostal cashier at Wal-Mart or a Baptist VP of Wachovia.
The latter question troubles me. When someone asks me where I go to church, I want to respond “Church is not someplace I go, it’s who I am.” In one of the two times that Jesus speaks of the ‘Church,’ He defines it relationally: “where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:20). His Church is made up of individual believers meeting in groups as small as two. Whenever Altha and I go out for coffee to share the Word and pray with one another, we are, in effect, co-pastoring a church of two!
Don’t get me wrong. I think every believer should be connected in some way to a local church. But far too many Christians have learned, incorrectly, that being a Christian is about ‘doing’ and ‘going,’ rather than ‘being.’ They have stopped “doing” things and “going” places they used to. Now they “do” and “go” to church—“Going” to church being the mark of a good Christian.
When I ask the question “Where do you go to church?” I want to know where someone is sowing into the Kingdom, doing the 'good works' God created him to do. The Church is not a place. It's an organism. So, let’s not get caught up in “doing” church and “going” to church, and forget we “are” the Church. Even so, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ... And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:25, 24). Now, that’s a whole lot more than "Going to Church!"
