What is Church?

I've got a question for you.

             Do you attend church?

            Or are you a part of a local church?

There is a difference. Do you go to the movies? Or are you involved in the culture of a particular movie? There are some similarities. You know, like Trekkies. They are different. But they aren't the normative movie goer. It seems to me that there are also similarities between movie "goers" and church "goers". They both go to be entertained. They both leave and aren't part of anything. There is not unity in a group of theater goers and for many so-called Christians there is no unity for them. If the movie or the church don't meet their criteria then they take their popcorn and go to the theater/church down the street.

For me, I have found I identify much more with the various people at church than I do with the majority of people that share my last name, the people I grew up with and the one that birthed me. That guy on the other side of the isle wants to glorify God. He and I don't talk much but his daughters were in Sparks when my wife and I were leaders there. His girls were a good testament to his and his wifes parenting.

There's another guy over to my right that has always been there for me. He invited us to join his adult Sunday School class when my wife and I were newly married. He and I have gutted deer together. We sat in a creek on a hot summer day while his children threw rocks upstream. We talked about discouragement and came away encouraged. He doesn't know it but he and two other guys that have helped to mold me into a man all shared the same name,the name that we were going to give to the child we lost to miscarriage.
There is a quiet guy on the other side of church. He has no idea the impact he's had on my life. He was part of that Sunday School that the other guy invited us to. His hard work ethic could put a draft horse to shame. He speaks his mind,but so humbly that you couldn't be offended.
And there, closer to the front is a guy with some wacky colored socks. I went to him several years ago when my marriage was on the rocks, when I figured out I didn't have it going on like Donkey Kong and needed help. He encouraged me back from the edge of frustration. We met every week for over a year and a half. He answered the phone every time I  called with questions (and there was a lot of those times). And usually he didn't tell me I was screwing things up. He just asked the right questions until I figured it out. I wouldn't have dealt with me so gracefully, but he did. And that taught me a lot about parenting. Grace and asking questions, not throwing out accusations.
And there, kinda towards the back is a younger guy. I've known him since he was in high school. He was a punk then. Maybe still a little bit now. But man, has he grown up into a Godly man. Watching him grow into manhood has been like watching a firework that fizzled like a dud shoot into the sky and steal the show. Men twice his age don't have the drive to beat themselves into submission the way he does. I don't either, but he's unknowingly encouraging me to do so.

Do you get what I'm saying? Some people identify with a movie or a bar or a frat or what-have-you but my identity lies with my church family. Our identity is in our Savior. We die and sacrifice for each other because Jesus, our Savior, died and sacrificed for us.