Noticing my own habits....

I noticed that most of my posts recently have been in response to fighting and division in the church. I figure I should wrap that up and move on. So, in that spirit....

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20

I think there is a desperate need for the church to be exactly what the world isn't, a need for the church to reflect the Kingdom of God in the most practical way possible. Let me explain.
It seems that over the past several months, my life has been dominated by sadness and frustration. Situations that cannot be fixed but can only be survived seem to be a common theme. There is not a time in my adult life where money was not a major and stressful issue. As a single woman, it seems that rejecting and rejection are the words of the days as I try to date. My thoughts and my time seem to be consumed with surviving and getting by.
I need a place or people who remind me that is not the point. I need someplace that is safe from all the worry and fear about money and work and relationships and safety and life. I need a group of people who are going to constantly and strongly remind me that while the Kingdom of God is not here it is near. I need a place that looks so completely different than the world to remind me that I am not of this world.
I have a sincere concern that church is becoming too much like the world. We are letting our safe place become a lot like what we are supposed to be separating from, all that fear and worry. When we become more concerned with who is right and in, vs who is wrong and out, we set a dangerous precedent that sounds more like something out of dystopian literature than the 4 Gospels. It seems we are making decisions more out of a response to fear than a response of love. And I'm scared that I don't know how it is happening or how to turn the tide.
But, in that worry, there is a beautiful picture of what it would really mean for Jesus to show up where ever 2 or 3 of us are. What if our churches became a place where we learned and applied responsible budgeting, generous giving and spending without ever worrying about money? What if we just decided if the cross is really big enough to take care of our sin, and then applied that practically by saying, "it's ok if we're wrong, it's ok if you're wrong."
Seriously, what if when 3 of us ran into each other at the Olive Garden, and the peace and break from worry and fear that always follows His presence became a temporary oasis for those around us?
I don't really have an easy 1-2-3 step plan to make this work. I just think that there are groups and churches doing this exact thing all over the world. I know that if some of us are doing it, then the same Spirit in those will sustain us all to do the same. And, I think that if our churches became a place of peace and rest, then we would see the revival and change that we all so desperately need.