shawnlovejoy.com: Doing church or being the church...

You guys know this, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately. We've probably all thought about this before, but it won't hurt us to reflect on it more often: THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOING CHURCH AND BEING THE CHURCH!

Doing church means that church is something we get ready to go to on Sunday.
Being the church means that church is something we live out seven days a week.

Doing church means we got to church to listen to the sermon.
Being the church means we go to church to love God and love people.

Doing church means I go to church to sing "hymns" or "praise and worship".
Being the church means I go to church to love God and love people.

Doing church means I go to church and fulfill my volunteer responsibility.
Being the church means I go to church every Sunday, praying God will use me to to help someone new change the way they think about church.

Doing church means we look to the Pastor to minister to us.
Being the church means we realize we ARE a minister and that the family is supposed to minister to each other!

Doing church means we hope we have a good service.
Being the church means we hope God shows up and rocks our worlds!

Doing church means that we offer lots of programs.
Being the church means we offer lots of hope.

Doing church means we're glad we had a larger attendance this past week
Being the church means we're glad we had a big impact on our community this past week.

Doing church means that we look to the church to meet our spiritual needs.
Being the church means that we realize we ARE the church and we exist for the rest of the world!

Convicted yet? I am. We all needed the reminder today: Let's ask God to help us BE THE CHURCH THIS WEEK! Can you think of other dynamics that could determine whether we do church or be the church?