Church is not the destination

I've finished reading the second of the Reggie McNeal books I bought and thought I'd share this story in full.

I travel by plane almost every week. This means I get to visit a lot of airports. On a fairly routine basis, airports get confused about what they're there for–and for whom. They think that if a bunch of planes are on the ground, close to the hub, and the concourse is full of people, they are winning. They apparently think they are the destination! Of course, when this happens, it means a a bunch of people aren't getting where they want to go. They're stuck at the airport, like flies on flypaper.

The airport is a place of connection, not a destination. Its job is to help people get somewhere else. An airport-centric world of travel would be dull and frustrating, no matter how nice the airport is.

When the church thinks it's the destination, it also confuses the scorecard. It thinks that if people are hovering around and in the church, the church is winning. The truth is, when that's the case, the church is really keeping people from where they want to go, from their real destination. Lucky for us, it just so happens this is what Jesus promised to bring us. (He did not say, "I have come to give you church and give it to you more abundantly.") Abundant life is lived out with loved ones, friends, and acquaintances in the marketplace, in the home, in the neighbourhood, in the world.

The church is a connector, linking people to the kingdom life that God has for them. Substituting church activity as the preferred life expression is as weird as believing that airports are more interesting than the destinations they serve.

From Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal