Divergent

 Yesterday I went to two church services and they were about as different as it is possible to imagine.  The first was in a community center.  There were loads of families with small children running about and about half the congregation were dressed up as shepherds, wise men and women, animals ( mostly the kids) angels and a rather impressive King Herod        (the pastor).    The service was an interactive nativity with a (perfectly behaved) real toddler Jesus and a smattering of utter chaos.  There was a dodgy microphone, a small child who almost pulled the projector off its stand, and only one guy in the worship band because the rest of the band were off with covid or other things.   It was the least  religious thing you could imagine.  But it was so much fun, so relaxed, so friendly and God met me there.  He met me in the welcome we received as we walked in  ( its a church we used to go to and haven't visited for a while).   He met me in the sense of real community, real family, real people.   He met me in the place where everyone gets to play.   I loved it.

Then later in the day I went to a carol service in a different church.  It was super slick.  There was a smoke machine and special lighting and the message and Bible readings were partly delivered by film showed on the big screen.   The film sections were excellently done.  The singing was modern and punchy and upbeat and super professional.   Nobody put a foot wrong and the whole thing felt like a contemporary and accessible outreach to the modern world.  I met God there.  I met Him in the singing - especially in the words of some of the traditional carols which seemed to come alive in a new way as we sang them.   I heard Him speak to me during the sermon.   I came away so struck by the differences between two services celebrating the same thing and delivering the same message in such radically different ways  

As I reflected on this I heard God say ' divergent'.   I looked up that word and this is what the dictionary said.   

MATHEMATICS

(of a series) increasing indefinitely as more of its terms are added.

also a really good definition of who God is

I love this.  God says that the more expressions of Him we experience the bigger He gets ....... indefinitely.   There are an infinite number of ways that we can deliver and receive the gospel.   It can be messy and chaotic, it can be sleek and slick.  It can be kid-friendly or adult appropriate.  It can be hilarious or super serious.  It can be loud or quiet,  high or low, liturgical or slang...... and so it goes on.  There are a gazillion ways that church can look and sound and feel.  Because there are a gazillion aspects to and facets of God to be explored.  And that is why we will never find the perfect church.   Because no one section of the body of Christ is ever going to fully express who He is.  We all have a piece.  We are all one part , one cell, one vessel, one tissue of His body.    One of the good things about lockdown was that we got the chance to look into various churches ( thanks to livestreaming and zooming etc) and see different ways people do things out there.  Its good to find a spiritual home and build our lives into it, but its also really good to experience different expressions of the body of Christ and value that divergence

One Good Thing - Yesterday evening I took a bag of goodies into the local Tesco for the night shift staff.  Having done a few nightshifts stacking shelves over lockdown I appreciate how hard the behind the scenes teams work in our supermarkets to keep us stocked up with all we need - and this will be the busiest week of the year for them.   So I handed stuff in to a member of staff and asked them to put it in the staff room along with a Thank You card.  I did also try to pay for the car behind me at McDonalds when I drove through for a hot chocolate.  But they had already paid by credit card !!  :)