painful sunday

Gosh. It was painful being in church this sunday. I guess it helped a little that I was playing bass and the plans for lunch with friends after service helped. But it was agony being there and seeing and sensing the rigidity and formality....not in terms of ourward appearance but in terms of approach.

Sometimes it feels as if the"mask" is coming back on in the church. We are supposed to be detaching, but as long as we are around, its really hard to do that. To be really honest, i struggled to see the relevance of the message as well. It was especially painful to see the faces of the people looking totally disengaged and disinterested.

Is it just me or did any of you feel the same way?

But at lunch after service, we had a great time chatting, laughing and it was great seeing the kids playing with their friends. And we did not just speak about superficial things. We shared on some issues close to our hearts as well. Could it be that we need to be away from the "church" in order to experience community life? Honestly, lunch felt more like the kingdom than "church" did.