Summer is here, and most us have made our vacation plans. But how about a break from church? I don't mean Church with a capital “C.” That Church is the body of Christ on earth. I mean church with a small “c,” the organization that demands so much of our time and effort, both physically and emotionally.

I am not being radical when I say that most churches in Canada go on a summer schedule from mid-June to mid-September. The number of meetings is reduced and the focus of most activities is youth, family and the outdoors, things like vacation Bible school, church barbecues and summer camps.

But then comes the fall and we start our frantic pace again, going all out until December 25, when like a cross-country runner we stop on the trail and gulp a lung-full of fresh air before taking off again until Easter. After another short break, it's an all-or-nothing sprint to mid-June.

Have you ever wondered what the world thinks of us? For that matter, have you ever wondered what God thinks of us? Is this what church is all about?

When my children were small I took them to Walt Disney World. It was an unforgettable experience with sights to dazzle the eyes, sounds to deafen the ears and rides to churn the stomach. In one pavilion I was fascinated by a large machine that was fastened to the floor. The machine seemed to be made up of hundreds of wheels, gears, axles and pistons, so that there was hardly a single piece of it that wasn't moving.

The longer I stood and watched it, the more I became aware of the frantic level of activity that was going on. I began to see little things that I never saw at first. There was a little mechanical man running hard in one corner, but getting nowhere. There was a little mechanical woman working feverishly up in another corner, her little arms never stopping. Little mechanical animals ran back and forth, back and forth, on the same track hour after hour, day after day. It almost took my breath away just to look at the amount of activity taking place in front of me.

Then I became aware of the colours and the sounds that accompanied all this action. The gears hummed, whistled, zinged and whirled. Horns beeped, blared and honked. Pistons banged and rattled. Colours flashed and dazzled with reds, purples, blues, yellows and pinks.

The little mechanical man never slackened his pace, and the little mechanical woman kept right up with him. And all the while, this fascinating machine never moved an inch from its position. It remained firmly bolted to the floor. All the feverish activity produced no work and accomplished no end. For five minutes it captured the attention of visitors to the park but after that they became bored and walked away to find something more amusing.

That is the way some people see the institutionalized church—a big machine that is in perpetual motion but goes nowhere and serves no purpose. After a few visits they become bored and walk away.

As Christians, we cannot agree that our churches have no purpose. It was through our local churches and their individual members that the Holy Spirit brought to most of us the glorious news of salvation. It is largely the organized church that proclaims the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church (with a capital “C”) is not that perpetual motion machine. But I wonder how many local congregations present themselves to the world as places of feverish activity where their members wear themselves out in meetings and projects, but where, when the final tally is made, very little is actually accomplished.

Are we not sometimes like that little mechanical man and that little mechanical woman, caught up in the machinery, giving it all we've got, working at a fever pitch, but not knowing why?

As members of a local church and as part of the Church, the body of Christ, we should know why we exist. We should know the aims and goals of Christianity. We should know what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18 KJV).

During the summer as we take a break from regular church activity, let us take time to reflect on what Church is really all about.

Major Fred Ash is the corps officer at Burlington Community Church, Ont.