Ding ding ding. This is the heart of Christianity and it is the heart of the church. It is the essence of the church, despite common consensus or individual experiences. The church is about coming to the table, joining in holy communion with Christ and each other. There are a lot of misconceptions of the church. The church is not a building/place where tithes go/social organization/political hub/gossip hub/community center/etc. It’s where Christ reigns supreme and his mandate to his followers is: Love one another.

George Koch’s chapter on “Living with believers (ch. 6)” states it quite succinctly:

“We keep finding other things to do that look busy, important, or holy, but ultimately are a misdirection for our lives and intentions. We avoid the often thankless work of loving each other as Jesus loved us. . .
-Fighting is more exciting- and is aided by . . . adrenaline . . .
-Worship is more fulfilling. . .
-Music fills us and drives away the cares of the day. . .
-Prayer focuses on God. . .
-Bible Study reveals to us God’s heart and counsel. . .
-Theology captures our imagination. . .
-Even fighting heresy can be fun. It’s invigorating, sometimes maddening, and it fires off neurons and adrenaline and much more. It excites us. . . Here’s the point: Being a Christian would be much simpler without having to deal with you. And also without Jesus. He complicates my life even more than you do (44).”

Being a Christian i.e. being a part of the body of Christ is extremely, “not a safe process” as you put it. Confessing that one is a sinner is not a safe process. Accepting Christ as Lord is not a safe process. Jesus “complicates” our lives as Koch says. Trusting God is a constant state of disorientation. Living by the Spirit is hard; you don’t know where you are going. But it’s exciting.

When you write, “In my opinion, the church in general is simply not ready for this kind of intimacy.” It poses a question in my mind. How do you define church? And that’s also the question I have for McKnight, how does he define local church? I have this type of intimacy with my small group and certain people in my church, but not everyone. (There’s some people whose names I don’t even know.) Intimacy is not something you can have with 20 million people, so how does that work? How can a local church facilitate this type of community, when the church’s track record is pretty bad? (And I’m not just talking about UBF. Just talk to a PK or an MK.) It’s ironic that the church which is supposed to be a place of healing, growth and transformation often is not. But sometimes it undeniably is and that’s why the Church is still going 2000 years strong, by the grace of Jesus.

He invites the non-kosher Gentiles to the table and through fellowship with him, the Gentiles become transformed. This is the only way towards growth/healing/transformation- communion with Christ and each other. – See more at: http://www.ubfriends.org/2015/09/13/i-will-make-you-kosher/#sthash.g1WfGE4l.dpuf

I think that this sentiment lies at the heart of Christianity; Christ inviting others into a community which is centered around him so that personal and corporate transformation make take place. This is an awe-inspiring goal which, in practical day-to-day terms, I have found to be a very messy, extremely revealing and often times discouraging process. Though substantive joy and clarity about life are often the fruit of undergoing this struggle. Honsetly, I haven’t found the church to be a place where this kind of struggle is welcomed, but rather in the confines of my marriage and relationship with my children. When two people commit to one another and allow Christ to be the center of that commitment it becomes very clear that his goal is nothing less than the radical transformation of both lives. And additionally his aim is to make that bond between the two even stronger and to base it upon an increasingly realistic picture of each person. The result is that they can’t help but accept a sense of beautiful solidarity in which they are inextricably knit together as real, living, spirit-filled people who are struggling to make sense of life. But it’s not a safe process. It requires real vulnerability and most times admissions of being wrong, mistaken or selfish. It entails real empathy, as Brene Brown says. In my opinion, the church in general is simply not ready for this kind of intimacy. I have no idea when it will be, but for now I am embracing the process of growing closer to God and reality through the precious family that God has so graciously given me.