Stepping out...

So, I have begun thinking about "programming" in the church.  It's something that I have been wrestling with for a while and my thoughts are beginning to clarify a bit more.  I studied some pretty large chunks of Acts this winter and spring.  Something that really hit me was how "out there" the first and second generation Christians were (Paul is a second generation, let that one sink in for a moment).

They met together and ate food.  They worshiped out in the open at the Temple.  There was no real distinction in their mind of anything sacred or secular.  There certainly did not appear to be any kind of "holy huddle" going on in the early church.  There was rhythm to their life.

They broke bread, they served, they remembered the Lord, and they sat under the teaching of the leaders. They did all this in a culture that was just as pluralistic as ours.  They did this in a culture where the Empire was more oppressive (atleast in the persecution sense).

The question I have been pondering: Why do we pull out so much? Why do we feel the necessity to program EVERYTHING. Why can't we set aside a day for corporate worship, teaching, etc...Then the rest of the week what if we gathered together outside the walls of the church and followed Christ in community "out there" in the midst of a lost and dying world? What if we did more in our homes?  What if we even invited our neighbors? What if?