Recently, a close friend of mine was talking to a coworker about religion. During the course of the conversation, his coworker asserted “You know I’m a Catholic, don’t you? Well, not a practicing one.”

My friend couldn’t shake that comment. He said it gripped him, in a good way. His only response was this: “Fuck apathy.”

After he relayed this story to me, I asked him, “What would happen if we did?”

“Nothing bad.”

Exactly. What are we so afraid of?

What if we rejected our indifferent, apathetic attitudes and actively pursued a life of purpose? What if we actually lived the Great Commission?

Forget the hot mess that is church as we know it, with its hierarchical structure, contrived relationships, systems, programs and the like, and pursue only what Jesus called us to do: “Go into the world and make disciples, and obey everything I (Jesus) have commanded you.”

Jonathan Fokker at Simple Church puts it this way:

Jesus told us to make disciples by teaching them to obey His commands (Matt. 28:18-20). He also said, “If you love me, obey my commands” (John 14:15). We need to teach disciples to obey the commands of Jesus out of love. You cannot obey without love otherwise you end up in legalism. But love without obedience is no real love at all. You show your love to Jesus by obedience to Him. http://simplechurch.eu/index.php/toolbox/full/7-basic-commands-of-obeying-jesus-out-of-love/

He goes on to break out some of the commands Jesus left us, such as: Repent, believe and receive the Holy Spirit, be baptized, break bread together (communion), pray, give and make disciples, and of course, “Love God with everything” and “Love your neighbour…”

Seriously, consider what could happen if we lived the great commission and actually went through life consciously obeying Jesus and making disciples?

Just the other day, I was speaking with another friend about my journey of leaving church to find Jesus, and he asked how I would know when I’d “arrived” at a redemptive destination. There are many variables and questions still to be addressed and answered. One question I wrestle with is this: “What is church?” And, “if I don’t know what it is, how will I know when I find it? If I don’t know where I’m going, how will I get there?”

My friend answered with this, “Church is no longer the point. Jesus is.”

When we become buried by our cynicism, unable to move beneath the weight of our own apathy, how easy it is to miss the point. Jesus didn’t call us to build, or even go, to church. He called us to obey him and make disciples. Pretty simple. Do that and we’ll find out what church is.