You’ve heard (perhaps) of Messy Church; Café Church; Forest Church and Pub Church: but maybe not Doughnut Church!
Doughnut Church is church with a hole in it. Church with the centre missing.
Two years of Covid restrictions have disrupted our ability to gather freely on Sundays: a disruption to what always felt like the centrepiece of belonging for many of us. Whilst many of us continue to be nervous about attending on Sundays – or are beginning to lose the habit of doing so – what does it mean to ‘belong’ to the church?
Good question.
Before I continue, let me affirm that I believe that regular worship with other Christians is vital for spiritual health. There is something that happens when Christians join together that cannot be replicated in individual experiences at home, nor through watching a million YouTube clips.
I further believe that there is something personally and prophetically important in recognising the first day of the week, Sunday, as The Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10). Every Sunday is Resurrection Day (the significance of the first day of the week) and in a decaying world, we need weekly affirmations that darkness has been defeated and that our God raises the dead.
So, I’m a supporter of weekly Sunday worship with other Christians (and I’d encourage people who’ve lost the habit to retrieve it as soon as possible!). But let me add that nevertheless, I do not believe that attending weekly Sunday worship should be the single defining mark of belonging to a local church.
Jesus put the focus elsewhere.
In John 13 we read that after his last supper with his disciples Jesus shockingly started playing the role of the servant. He knelt before them and washed their feet. Even the feet of Judas.
He was acting out something in a way that they could never forget, and went on to spell out the lesson, just in case the actions didn’t speak for themselves. He was setting them an example, he said, for how it should be in their community, after he had left them. He even created a new commandment for them: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (13:34).
He then added that obeying this command was the central thing in proving that they were authentic Christians: “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”.(13:35).
Jesus defined the centre of being his Church, as service, not Services.
Loving one another. Rolling up our sleeves and washing a few feet – even of those who might betray us. That’ll show the world something different is going on!
The rest of the New Testament fleshes out this single new commandment with multiple ways (59 or so if you want to find them all) that we can obey the command to love one another. We should:
‘build up one another’ (Romans 14:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:11); care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25); serve one another (Galatians 5:13); bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2); forgive one another (Ephesians 4:2, 32; Colossians 3:13); speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19); comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)… and on the list goes!
If it’s service, rather than Services that are at the heart of what makes church ‘church’, that doesn’t require an organised worship experience on a Sunday morning. That requires me to reach out and connect with other family members. It requires me to wash some feet (nasty thought I know – but that’s kind of the point).
It might mean I
- Phone someone to see how they are doing.
- Pray with someone who’s struggling.
- Take someone out for a drink.
- Study the Bible with someone.
- Take a walk with someone.
- Take bread and wine with someone.
- Pay for someone’s gas bill (assuming they can’t pay it themselves!).
The possibilities for filling the hole in Doughnut Church are endless. What filling can you contribute?
This is a personal blog. The views expressed are mine.
I’m happy to engage with anyone who wants to respond to anything I’ve written.
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