Think Outside The Basement

It’s a common mistake. We as humans tend to spend a disproportionate amount of our time trying to perfect our outward appearance or admiring someone else’s. The church has a similar issue. Pastors typically spend 99% of their energy focusing on the 1% of the week that is the Sunday Service. But just as the outward appearance does not encapsulate the totality of a person,  (character, emotions, and soul), so the Sunday Service should not represent the complete picture of what it means to be a part of the church; at least not the thriving, empowered, world transforming church that we are truly called to be by Jesus himself. 

Don’t get me wrong…as a worship leader, I LOVE Sunday mornings at TMC. We have been meeting in the downstairs portion of a building on Jones Street that has all the features of a modern church; brick walls and coffee bar included.  Our Sunday service is honestly one of the highlights of my week. But sometimes, when I stop and think about it, I realize that I have limited my thinking to what happens in the basement; albeit a very nicely renovated one.

It is critical that we elevate our thinking. 

When Jesus said, “Make a very attractive gathering and website, that ALL the world may come to you and be saved…”

…oh wait… He didn’t say that? 

We know this, yet our practice at times says we don’t.  If we misinterpret our purpose and mission as a church and as individuals, we are missing out on an EXTREMELY large percentage of who we are to be as well as what we are supposed to do every day. 

What did He actually say?

Matthew 28 (msg)

“…Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

So at TMC we choose to think outside the basement. 

“Think outside the basement” means that we actively engage our community on a daily basis. “Think outside the basement” means that we realize TMC isn’t just for us. It means that even when I am enjoying the 1% of my week that I get to celebrate Christ with my church family on a Sunday, I realize it is more important to be gearing up for the 99% of the week when I am called to go out and BE the Church. We have to stop ourselves from flipping the switch that puts our purpose on the back burner, and realize that we weren’t actually given that as an option. The challenge is to live in purpose every day. It won’t be perfect. It will take effort. God promises He WILL be with you, and that’s the definition of true beauty.

What are some practical ways we can “think outside the basement” this week? Looking forward to your thoughts and comments!

- Pastor Adam