It was a very interesting experience re-visiting my church in Canada after being part of the church here in New England for three months. The contrast was quite striking and something that had been forming in my mind for some time, but it took going back to really cement it.
The difference between the two churches, even though they are part of the same international association, is probably down to them being in different places, at different stages, with different leaders. Yet God seems to have given the church here in NE a real task of caring for the poorest of the poor. The difference between the NE church and the Canada church is that there is a tangible darkness around the edges here. Ragged homeless men with dark faces and current junkies mingle, drink coffee, and thrash out their stuff as they come to a slowly growing realization that God is alive and that he cares for them. It's a haven, a place to come and feel absolutely welcome and non-judged no matter what your background.
There's a wild, rough, edgy, exciting feel to it that I love. Cigarette breaks mid-through are standard procedure. You never know who you might be sitting next to, or whose whirlpool you might get sucked into as you help them face what becoming a Christian means and sorting through all the hurts, junk, and habits of a lifetime. It's what the kingdom is all about, and what the gospel is all about, and it's exciting to see it played out.
It's in contrast to church-going-nowhere that I experienced all of my life before. Well-dressed people getting together and pretending for a couple of hours that everything was great and they loved God as they went through yet another ritual empty of meaning or of any contact with their lives. Here it is like a hospital: the most wounded come and find rest. They come, and find the presence of God. A common remark is that it is unlike any church they have ever been to.
People are looking for meaning, and looking for love. They are also looking for reality and are very sharply aware of bullshit, and won't tolerate it. The most desperate are stripped of BS. They have no energy or ability to be hypocritical, and can spot hypocrisy a mile away. They know it is not the answer for them, and that they will be judged in churches where people's lives are put-together enough that they can sustain hypocrisy. They come here because they find God. A God who loves them just as they are. A God who is committed to putting their lives back together, and a body of people who are here as his hands and feet to help them do just that. And there is nothing expected of them but to accept it. I love it. Partly if not mostly because I am in as much need of it as they are.