Do I really have to “go to church…?”

Maybe instead of getting stumped trying to answer the old question, “Do I really have to go to church to be saved, to go to heaven, to be a Christian, etc...?” maybe it’s time congregations ask ourselves what is it about our reputation that turns people away or leads them to believe churches are phony? Sadly, many people skip gathering with a church even though they are curious about matters of faith.    

In other words, perhaps churches need to think about why many people are interested in “the Man upstairs,” these same people who say “Give me Jesus, keep the church...” and as a church we need to think about why are they looking for a hall pass, a loophole, a permission slip, an absence excuse?  What is the source of their contempt or disinterest in Sunday morning worship services?  

Most believers subscribe to the idea that to be considered faithful, church attendance is a responsibility, a duty, an obligation.  None of those categories sound fun, interesting, or exciting.  So maybe, the first reason people evade and avoid the church building is because they assume it will be boring -- once in a while even a broken clock is right, so they might have a point here.     

Another idea is the fact that there are congregations who are more than critical and less than welcoming.  If you don’t fit their mold, you remain on the outside looking in.  These same congregations appear to be on the judgmental side.  

Then there are people who believe worship services are out of touch with the real world and that we are geared towards promoting blind faith, being anti-intellectual, anti-science, and we are more or less a gathering of flat-earthers -- not necessarily mouth-breathers, just irrelevant and uneducated.   After all, didn’t the church blind Galileo?

Then, there’s the opinion that the church is only interested in your money.  The hypocrisy of it all.  

Perhaps these are our consequences when instead of becoming fishers of men, we became keepers of the aquarium.  Maybe those resistors have a point. 

Has the church lost sight of the value of differing viewpoints, backgrounds, and ethnicities?  Paul was clear, the church is one body that is made up of various members who are attached by the Spirit, not by their similarities: “12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (I Cor 12:12-13)

Has the church misunderstood the purpose of gathering together?  Some misuse Hebrews 10 to make the case for gathering on Sunday mornings, but the passage has nothing to do with any day of the week or for that matter a building: “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”  The Greek word for “meet together” isn’t “ecclesia” for church assemblies, it is “episunagoge” which is deeper and more significant than sitting in a pew, it is about an inspirational community-based integrated lifestyle that goes far beyond a Sunday morning worship service. 

So yes, the next time someone asks if they “have to” go to church, yes let’s remember that we are the church and the church isn’t a building, it is the people, people who gather in the name of Jesus to break bread, share scripture, pray together, and nurture and encourage each other.  And, instead of being annoyed or irritated by this age-old question of the necessity of church attendance, be inspired to help restore their trust in the church through authentic friendships, genuine care, and Christian love -- instead of just inviting people to a church building or event, let’s actually be the church.  

Originally published on 1/3/25 in the Kingsport Timesnews click here to see

 

When we are hurt by the church

 

For everyone who has ever been disappointed by, discouraged or disillusioned by church, I am sorry you were wounded by the very people who were supposed to represent Jesus. It is shameful and unacceptable. There are no excuses for churches hurting those entrusted to their care. Hang with me for a moment while I unpack the ugly side of church, but there is hope.

Here’s the sad reality: Evil gravitates toward good like a cancer latching onto its host. Churches can attract people to leadership positions who want to exercise power and control over other people, and typically these power-hungry people are individuals who feel absolutely powerless at home or at work. They line up to join church committees, they love long unproductive meetings, they become territorial, and they enjoy issuing orders for which they will neither commit to helping with nor funding themselves personally. These types of people have missed the value of transformation — they only know how to tally up “nickels and noses,” i.e., when it comes to “church” the contribution and attendance are all they care about.

Because of these power brokers, pastors and congregants alike have left their churches in droves — this possibly includes you as well. Statistics show that many ministers suffer intense burnout rates, and the average preacher will spend more time earning their seminary degrees than they ever will serving in church. Many, actually most, teenagers will become collateral damage, themselves fleeing from church as adults after a lifetime of listening to their grumbling parents struggle with the volunteer leaders in their local church. And, as you may have noticed, countless churches are closing their doors, shuttering their windows, and simply vanishing.

Why shouldn’t we simply give up on the idea of church, since there are so many problems within her walls? Not to mention, it seems like “celebrity pastors” are falling like dominoes to one scandal or another all too often. Why? Because the church isn’t limited by “four walls,” and it doesn’t have to be run like a business, driven by a consumer mentality, or feel like a major theater production.

Churches can focus on serving Jesus, and caring for His flock. When you get away from the bright stage lights and “organized Christianity” and attempt to follow the Bible instead of Robert’s Rule of Order, church becomes more organic, more wholesome. It becomes real. Will you still have problems? Certainly, since none of us are perfect, but considering the alternatives it’s worth it.

There will always be parasitical, argumentative, hypocritical powermongers attempting to leech off of the goodwill of believers, which neither nullifies the work Jesus sets before us nor does it excuse us from serving.

You can find a church (or plant one) that is focused on transforming lives through the power of the Cross, the moving of the Spirit, and through the enrichment of the Scriptures.

There are loving and welcoming, non-judgmental, life-changing churches focused on changing lives. They might not have a steeple on their roof. In fact they might not even have a building to their name to put a steeple on, but they have what matters — the heart of Jesus.

Originally published in the Kingsport Timesnews:

https://www.timesnews.net/news/faith/why-you-shouldnt-give-up-on-church/article_9ed03c8a-4307-11ec-936b-b33f3bfce420.html