What to do?

'...people discovering life together as the renewed people of God.'

That seems like a good place to start with what a church is supposed to look like. But what does that look like? Really it could look just like any church, as long as the relationships and the community come first, (before the programs, the politics and the buildings). The problem is, when you join a new church, how do you become part of the community, especially if you already have your own community away from the church. I suppose, if you really wanted, over time you could form relationships and integrate yourself into the community. Sometimes that works, other times it feels, the whole time, as if you have forced yourself on to people and that whilst they 'love you in Christ' there are no real relationships being built.

And anyway, do we really have to join a new church? In my case, I already have an amazing Christian community around me and we are definitely, 'discovering life together as the renewed people of God'. In fact, I am part of two of these groups, with whom we meet to pray, talk and eat once a week or so. Isn't that 'doing church'?

The problem for me comes when I start being future looking. The great command was:
'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you'
So theoretically, if I am doing my job right I should be bringing people to Christ. Once I have done that, they should become part of my community, (assuming I was in relationship with them before they came to know Christ), and therefore the small community I am in now will grow.

When anything grows, it begins to need structure, leadership and more space. At that point it begins to look like a tradition church again. Now, as I explained before, I don't mind being part of a traditional church if it is done the right way, but, somehow, for me, it is loosing its integrity and the whole reason that I choose not to go to church in the first place. Maybe I will be happy and in community, but what about these new people that come along, couldn't they feel exactly as I stated at the beginning of this post, ('...as if you have forced yourself on to people and that whilst they 'love you in Christ' there are no real relationships being built.')?

And just as a final paragraph, wouldn't it also be fair to assume that my friends and I, who were in the original group, would become the leaders/ elders/ pastors of a church like this, (because we were the ones with the vision)? I'm not sure I want that. I'm not sure my friends want that either. It's one thing to meet up as a small group of friends, quite another to run a church.

So I am back at the beginning, go along to a church full of people I don't know and force my way in?....mmm...