I’m starting to fall in love.

Sorry for those of you who just got excited for some juicy romantic gossip, I’m about to disappoint you by telling you it’s with a church. In a previous post I mentioned the elusive Acts 29 church plant*. Well, it does, in fact, exist. And it’s awesome.

For the first few weeks here at school I sat in pews of new churches and felt empty, lost. When you leave an amazing church, and you’re trying to find a new one that compares, it’s like thinking back on a past lover: you forget all the bad things and feel overwhelmingly nostalgic about the good. And going on first dates with new churches can be like bad first dates in real life. You’re 5 minutes in and you know you aren’t meant to be together, but you have to stick it out.

I went to Redemption Bible sort of by accident. Every Sunday I had in my mind that I was going to visit some other church, but circumstances led me to tag along with some guys to this “new Acts 29 church plant”, whatever that was.

Honestly, I didn’t think I’d like it let alone ever go back. But as I sat in the dim light of the an old theater, I heard the GOSPEL preached, and all I could think about was how I’d love to invite my non-christian friends to this church… and I knew this whacky rockbandplayinghymnsandpastorwearingjeansandchucks church was the one.

At first I thought it was good because it wasn’t about ME or my agenda. I threw out the nitpicky checklist of things that make a good church. It was what it was. And I would love to go out and invite people who needed Jesus to come and check it out.

Then after spending time eating with and fellowshipping (is that even a word?) with the people there, and being stalked by those same people on twitter, facebook and email, and having coffee with the pastor, and being invited to community group… I realized that yes, it was about me. It was about something I can be a part of: a body. We are all one body and to be able not just to meet on Sunday mornings and worship together, but to “break bread” together, share a meal, incessantly @reply on twitter, etc… that is what counts. I can be loved on and love back. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

It was that sense of community and love for one another that made me fall in love with this particular church, and reignited my romance with THE Church. Yes, I love the Church, because Paul tells us the Christ loved the Church as His bride, and “gave Himself up for her”. THIS IS HUGE. I don’t even know the depth of this analogy, given I am outside of a marriage relationship, but I know to feel this love for something so dear to Christ Himself is to bring glory to the Son of God.

And just like I won’t find the perfect man, I won’t find the perfect church… but I will find the perfect church (and hopefully someday the perfect man) for me.

And if you find the perfect church, please let me know so I can stay far, far away.

*

*I feel dropping the Acts 29 bomb fact warrants a love or hate response. For those of you who just went “ugh” or cringed in the slightest– Well, I beg your pardon. When you tell me about your Baptist church, or Assemblies of God or what not… how would you feel if I were even to feign a shudder? Who are you to judge another church? God doesn’t say the Anglican or Evangelical Free church is His Bride, he calls the CHURCH, the whole Church and all that that means, encompasses or embodies… that is His bride. Love it.

Ok, this list will probably evolve and hopefully become enriched [and more humorous] over time, but here’s a first draft:

You know you’re in seminary when…

… your textbooks are bigger than the Bible itself

… you’ve met both women in the MDiv program

… your English letters start to look like Greek letters

… there’s such a thing as the “new, hot translation” of the Bible

… the best inside jokes revolve around Hezekiah

… any social gathering includes a “time of worship”

… you find Greek flashcards in your purse

… you’re the one that’s asked to pray at meals

… theological, ontological, hermeneutical and exegetical all become staples in your vocab (even if you’re not sure what they mean)

… you suddenly feel the urge to get a tattoo in Greek or Hebrew, probably on your wrist

… Jesus is listed as an official attendee to your BBQ

Do you have any to add to the list?

Though I was warned, I am still in awe of the phenomenon that is the male population on this campus. In most classes, I can count on one hand the number of women. I am the only girl in my formation group. Today I attended a lecture in which there was one other girl. Some women might find this whole business intimidating, frustrating… who knows. All I know is, it’s fine by me. Bring it on! And no, I am not here for my MRS. I’m just not bothered with the fact that I am a minority.

The only real trouble is in the art of making friends. How do you befriend a guy without him thinking you’re interested? I would kill to be able to give out my phone number without scaring the boys off. How do you approach the subject of exchanging contact info purely for the practical purpose of communicating? What if I want to just hang out… but not “like that”? Tricky business. I thought theology or exegesis would be the brain-buster here, not the male psyche!

Well, lucky for me it is now on more than one occasion I have been called “one of the dudes” by a select group of guys. They’re all a lot younger, which is why is works (I’m pretty sure I’m too old for there to be any romantic interest). The other night I was privileged (?) to be part of a discussion ranging from the girls they think are cute and their views on dating, to how obsessed they are with Mark Driscoll, which eventually leads to the idea of attending an Acts 29 church plant on Sunday. And here is where we arrive at my

BLONDE MOMENT OF THE WEEK

Boy: “It’s an Acts 29 church”
Me: “Is there something in Acts 29 specifically about the church?”
Boy: “Um… there is no Acts 29″…

WEEEEELLLLLL…. yet another confirmation that I am indeed supposed to be in seminary. Thank the good Lord in heaven that was NOT an episode which occurred in class, among the throngs of supersmartpotentiallysnobby budding male theologians! YIKES. I am so grateful for my new– much smarter– friends. God bless ya, boys…

IRONY ALERT: So on Sunday we made an attempt to visit said Acts 29 church, only to discover IT DOESN’T EXIST EITHER. Killer…