When I was a young believer, I believed that the normal shape of a normal church looked like my local church. That happened also because other “mind-shaped” believers for other “different” churches were working well in defining their best model of the first century church living in 20th century.
Today, I’m able to recreate in my memory all kinds of shapes I’ve seen in the churches I visited, I was a member or a pastor. During the last 10 years the trend I have observed and unsuccessfully trying to copy was to look for successful shapes that had produced churches that “sell well” in their cities or countries.
Read books, blogs, visited conferences to see new expressions and new church-plants shapes. As I was looking to find the perfect shape, I figured out that I had change, not completely for good. I required time to figured that out and to work to navigate myself out of the trap of looking for the perfect church shape.
My heart is to present Christ to those who don’t Him and to engage with meaningful and truthful conversations with truth-seekers in every walk of life. Apostle Paul said that he made himself everything, to reach everyone possible. No cultural, ethnic, language or religious stumbling blocks in him. I hope I’m becoming like that. I appreciate old church structures, those with stones and those with ancient canons. I enjoy selfishly my time there. Sometimes refreshes me, other times makes me appreciate the work of others throughout the centuries. Then I remember those who don’t enter in these buildings for God and don’t read well written hymns to praise the Creator.
I get out again to built new nets that have a different shape and size, knowing that many lost souls will be out again not fitting in my new shape church. But I will continue…
Brother Endrit Journey 