Dear God, I was listening to this week’s Holy Post podcast yesterday and I came across this quote from the man the were interviewing at the end of the show, Brad Edwards. He was talking about his book The Reason for the Church. Here’s the quote that caught my ear: “Our neighbors, and even Christians in a lot of ways, but especially our neighbors are open to the idea that God exists and even that they might need Jesus, but they are closed to the idea that the church is beautiful or good for anyone.”
I think this caught my ear for a few reasons. First, I have a friend who is dedicated in his love for you, but his wife is having to force him to find a church. He is absolutely not interested.
For my part, I tell people all of the time that I don’t like going to church. I never have. Not since I was a kid. But that also goes along with the idea that I often get tired of sitting in any kind of theater, presentation-style setting. Whether it is a movie, live theater, or church, my wife notes that its a special and incredibly engaging show that will keep me from checking my watch. I do go to church, but it’s more out of a sense of self-discipline in knowing that it is good for me to be in community of other believers, and my presence there might, just might, be good for them as well.
I know a lot of people who profess love for you who are not in church. Their reasons vary. I guess my point is that I know plenty of Christians who do not want to go to church. Any Christian who finds themselves not wanting to go to church is in good company.
Forgetting about non-Christians for a moment, why is it that Christians choose not to go?
- Effort: It’s inconvenient to go.
- Boredom: It can be boring.
- Judgment: People can be afraid to be known and then judged for not being the right kind of Christian or for having sinned.
There are other reasons, but those three are a good start. And the modern church has tried to address them. And here, when I say, “they” I mean some have done different things. They‘ve made virtual services available for those who don’t want to leave home. They‘ve added instruments to the band, lights, and dynamic preaching to help entertain the audience. And they‘ve emphasized come as you are and a judgment-free zone. And some of these changes have been good. I’m not criticizing. I’m just noting.
But it makes me wonder why going to church is important. Why do we, as Christians, need church? Why is this a sacrament you have ordained? What’s in it for us? What’s our why?
- Community: At a basic level, we need community. We need each other. Whether we are parents needing community with other parents while we try to raise our children, businesses who need to be with others to learn from them and be better at what we do and not feel all alone, concerned citizens who need to come alongside others to get problems solved, etc. Being around other people makes us better. Iron sharpens iron. Problems solved by teams almost always come out with a better solution than the problem solved by an individual.
- Worship: We need to gather with other Christians to worship you. It strengthens us to worship with others. It helps us focus. The odds are slim that I will sit for an hour in my home and sing to you, pray to you, and listen to good teaching about you. I need the 1.) accountability of community and 2.) the sharpening of being around others. I need other Christians to point out my bad theology and correct me. I need to be known by others. I’m drifting back into my first point. I guess for this one I’m saying that I will die a slow spiritual death if I try to just live out my faith on my own. I heard the analogy of coals on a fire one time. When you start a fire you pile the coals together. Their combined effort burns hotter and helps the fire last longer. But coals that are spread and left to burn by themselves do not produce as much heat and die out faster. I need to worship you with others to keep my private worship alive.
- Structure: If we are going to gather with other Christians, there are ways to do it. We could just get some other Christians to come to our houses, and that can be good for a Bible study, but in some ways it’s the blind leading the blind. We need the educated, principled leader to guide us. You need some amount of infrastructure and bureaucracy to make it work. Even with a small men’s group I’m in right now, we are collecting money and someone needs to track it. We need someone responsible for our teaching. We need accountability. The leadership needs accountability.
Father, my point is that I do think being involved in a church is important, and as I grew up Baptist but have worshipped with Catholics the last 14 years, I can say that the style of worship really doesn’t matter. I think Eugene Peterson once said that if you are looking for a church start by going outside your home and walking to the first one you see. That might be a little simplistic and one has to be care, to some extent about the church’s orthodoxy and theology, but for the most part we should be able to worship with just about any other believers. It’s more about what I am willing to put into it than what I will take from it. My growth comes through my participation. Help me to be a contributing member to your church so that my life might be an offering to you.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 