The Church

I think what's happened, what makes us so confident in leaving the church, is that we've lost sight of some very fundamental things about who the church is, who she is supposed to be. 

For some, we've thought that the church is for our training in the faith. So hey, if our faith is strong and we don't need any more training, then we don't need the church. 

And actually, a lot of churches have adopted this model, too. They turned themselves into something they call "seeker sensitive" and the basic attitude of the church is that once you've been a Christian for a bit, even a fairly short bit, you should be engaging in the spiritual practices that deepen and sustain your faith on your own. You should know how to pray, how to read the Bible, how to worship, how to tithe. If you're not doing those things, then that's on you. 

Then, our churches shifted their emphasis to conversion. To introducing Christ over and over and over and over again ad nauseum, every Sunday from here unto eternity. They started judging their effectiveness in baptism numbers over all else. Attendance is a close second. 

So the church is for conversion; the Christian life is up to you. If that's the case, then no wonder so many Christians are thinking they can wander away and somehow not become the lost sheep Jesus is looking for so desperately. 

For others, the church has been seen as an obligation. We go to church because we're expected to go to church. Sometimes, it's because God expects us to go to church. 

In this case, one of two things eventually comes creeping into our heads, then our hearts. 

First, if God is just counting attendance, the faith doesn't seem very vibrant at all. It's not dynamic. It's not life-giving. We come to resent going to church just to check a box. It doesn't hold meaning for us. And eventually, it becomes easiest just to stop going. God probably doesn't care. 

Second, we start to think God's favor depends on us just showing up. For whatever. Attendance is what matters most to God. 

I confess that over my life of faith, I have had both of these thoughts about church...and many more. I have believed it to be for training, and found it relatively unnecessary once I know how to discipline myself. And I have believed it to be an obligation, as though if I were not in the pew on Sunday mornings, God would certainly smite me. That He's counting the Sundays I've had to miss and evaluating my reasons why to figure out if they're good enough. 

The more I've grown in my faith, however, and the more that certain seasons have kept me from being able to faithfully attend church, the more I have realized that church is neither an obligation nor a bore. 

Church is God's gift to us. 

And I think shifting that understanding just a small little bit can make a big difference for so many who are tempted to become the one who wanders away. 

You don't have to go to church. But you get to go to church....