In my mind there is a difference between being the church, (God’s people on earth and in heaven) and going to church (a religious exercise sometimes attached to self-righteousness and a sense of well-being). As I have progressed in my journey I have come to question many of the things I used to take for granted, including the habit of church going.
Of course I am not against people going to church but I am questioning the reasons behind it and how effective it is in bringing the people of God to maturity; it is probably worth noting that I have been a ‘pastor’ for over ten years, I have planted two works and have preached in any number of churches around the world, I am forty eight years old, married with two married sons and two daughters at home. Along with my wife I oversee two Christian schools as well as the churches and I am asking the question “why would I go to church?”
- To hear the Word of God? – Well maybe, but I have an excellent library of both books and audio by some of the best preachers and teachers in history. I can read far more in forty minutes than anyone can preach and I don’t have to leave home.
- To worship God? – Hmm, I guess we mean singing here. This I do already. On the road, in the kitchen with my friends and with headphones on. Whilst corporate worship can be fun (as well as dire) I don’t really need it.
- To fellowship with other believers? – I do fellowship with other believers; they are my friends, we meet, we hang out and sometimes we get very ‘real’ with one another. To be honest telling someone “I’m fine” over a drink in a plastic cup isn’t really fellowship in my books.
- To express my faith in God? – I think Jesus said people would see how genuine our discipleship was through our love for one another and the good works we do in His Name.
- To please God? – How does my going to church please God?
- Our children need to learn about God in ‘Kids Church‘ – My daughters go to a Christian School, they know more Bible than most Bible school students and I teach them at home (or McDonalds!).
- The Bible commands us to go to church – No it doesn’t; the book of Hebrews tells us to not stop meeting together which is another thing entirely. I meet with other believers in pubs, restaurants and our homes; we share with each other what God is showing us, we sometimes confess our faults to one another, sometimes we pray, other times we talk about what we have read in the Bible, sometimes we eat together, sing together, laugh together and even cry together.
I could extend the list by talking about corporate identity, fund raising and mobilising workers but I don’t think they are any more legitimate than the ones I have already discussed.
Let’s do another list; this time about what church can’t do for you.
- Going to church won’t make God love you.
- Going to church won’t put you right with God.
- Going to church won’t earn you favour with God.
- Going to church won’t make people like you.
- Going to church won’t ‘meet your needs’.
- Going to church won’t make your children believers, (it is more likely to do the opposite).
- Going to church won’t make you a disciple.
- Going to church won’t make you a mature believer.
- Going to church won’t change your community.
All that I have listed here are simply parts of the normal Christian life that exist and work apart from us going to church; for example God loves you not because you are lovely or go to church but because He is love.
Am I saying that you should not go to church? No not really, but I am saying that we should be clear about why we do it and what we should expect. The church can meet in all sorts of ways that can be helpful and valid but they are not church; a church service is not church. We can come together for a seminar, a concert, a conference, a praise party, a stadium full of believers, a Sunday meeting with a preacher as long as we understand that these things are what they are and that non of these are commanded in Scripture. In fact the only description of an expected meeting in the New Testament is in 1 Corinthians which had no professional ministry, no preaching and no chairs in rows but instead an expectancy that every believer would be used by the Holy Spirit to minister to the rest of the group. A far cry from what we call church today.
If we can clearly define what our meetings are and what we can realistically expect then we can choose to attend and enjoy them; or alternatively we can choose to stay at home without feeling guilty.
Go well 
Love it Mark, Great stuff, I was found in Him before I was ever lost in Adam, Effortless Union. Blissings to Yourself, Sandra and the family
Thanks bro, love to you all
Good post.
Hi Mark,
I agree with your points and I think your main critique of the assumptions and language that goes with “church territory” to be accurate. My wife and I recently started a “church” but we do not call it a church and we call our meetings “gatherings” and do all we can not to have people see church in institutional terms. We have named our gathering the HUB (standing for the Holy Unified Body) and that is what we strive to be. I have long been frustrated by tithing language (giving to God only by giving to “church”), priestly language (shepherd of the sheep, touch not my anointed etc.), God’s house (in reference to a church building), meet with God (by singing together), hearing God’s word (by listening to a 3 point sermon, often terribly shallow) etc etc etc. All this language speaks far louder than the occasional quip of “the church is the people not the building”.
However I must admit that I have been alarmed to find many of my great friends, with deep faith, become disillusioned with what institutional church has become (or always was but we are only now seeing it) and have therefore left any kind of gathered group of Christians. It rarely has good results. I urge them not to give up on corporate expressions of Christ as I see deeply in scripture God’s love for the church (people) and that we all need each other as God has decided to limit his expression in each of us according to the grace and gifts we have received. A body must be connected! Some of these people end up going off on tangents, not just theologically but also in their lives. I also know that a thousand conversations with Christian friends have kept my meditations and thoughts in a stable direction and encouraged me to question my conclusions at times.
As a result I have concluded that, for pragmatic as well as spiritual reasons it is worth keeping an ordered time for gathering but maybe rethinking what that means. We have done our best to decentralise leadership and push responsibility onto all members. But what has been the most life-giving change we have made has been to demolish this ridiculous (and gnostic!) separation of faith with life. Its not all faith and no works but faith evidenced BY works… not works of the law but works of love and transformation. Christ works a transformation at the deepest level of our being, and continues to. The level of how we perceive and respond to everything. If this isn’t blindingly obvious by the way we live then something is wrong!
Nathan
This all to me assumes you have these Christian relationships all around you for fellowship? I think the “formal” Sunday church gathering though is a great place to cultivate those very needed relationships. It is a great place to be taught, to be accountable (if we have those relationships). I mean accountable to a local body where we are under the watch of some God fearing, Bible believing elders.
The other thing I do find is that there is a bigger pool of minds to interact with. If I could only ask my friends some questions I might never get the wisdom that can be found in some of the more weathered Christians I will have access to at the “formal” Sunday church gathering.
I do however hear what you are saying and I have never felt guilty for not attending. I do now though more than ever really enjoy it. Love the time I get spending with the others, cultivating new relationships, learning more…
I hear what you are saying Chris Penkin and I certainly grew as a young christian at my childhood church. Since then though my relationship with church has become more cynical. The last church I attended before I moved to my current one was a big church and I ended up gettting there early so that my son had a spot in the Sunday School. That was my main concern. I ended up in the back with no one talking to me and really not enjoying it. Those things mentioned in the blog were certainly not present for me. When we decided to move churches we looked at an offshoot of that church and again I was overwhelmed by this awful sense of inactivity and “fakeness” like the people were putting on their sunday act. Where I live at least there are fewer and fewer people going to the old style church and the churches are dying a slow death.
My current position (and I have to say I am still grappling with it) is that church as it has been presented is not working and God needs his children to use their personal relationships to minister to people. After all, it is not about getting people to go to church but rather to get people to have a personal relationship with Jesus. It has worked to an extent because one of our three “branches” has already multiplied so now we have a fourth branch filled with skaters and bmx`ers, meeting and getting guidance from one of the elders who oversees the original branch and its offshoot.
I think the danger of just going to church is that we don’t fulfill the great commission and “go and make disciples”. We get stuck in the beaurocracy, politics and increased resistance to moving out of comfort zones that are associated with church. We also tend to think that people who have just been born again could not possibly know enough to lead others to Christ even though the Holy Spirit is burning at its brightest then. Guidance is certainly needed and accountability is paramount but ultimately what matters is that we make Jesus accessible in whatever way is necessary to people who are disillusioned God and with church in its current form. If you ever get a chance, read “The Organic Church” by Neil Cole. It presents an alternative model that just might work..