"Church" is an interesting word. What it means and how it is used are often two very different things. When we read the Bible we see the church is not a building with a name on the outside and a list of service times. In the Bible, church is a group of people. Jesus called us to be his church - a group of people who’ve accepted him as Savior, working together for a common mission of loving others and sharing his good news with the people around us.
Church is a mission and a mindset, not a place we go. So what is the question we need to stop asking? Within the Christian community, a common question asked is, "What church do you go to?" Or the reverse of that is telling someone you what church you attend. The problem with this comment or question is that it makes the church is a building or place you visit once or twice a week before returning to every day life. This hurts us and our ability to be the church, because we check it off our list. “I went to church this week.”
Instead we should ask people, “what church are you in community with?” Or, “what is your church community?”
This may seem like I’m nitpicking or just trying to cause some kind of problem over a semantic argument, but the truth is the words we use make a big difference in our mindset. We think of something in relationship to how we talk about it and when talking about church, that can limit how we walk out our faith.
The great commission gets forgotten even if we talk about it because in our mind we already went to church, but the reality is we are to be the church everywhere we go, because we are ambassadors for Christ. We share the image of Christ with everyone we encounter and if we aren’t living mindfully of that, then we can forget and begin to lose the heart of Christ to share his love with those who don't know him.
The Bible tells us that the world will know we are Christians by our love. I don’t think that passage is true at all for American Christians, Christians in America don’t lead with love. Let’s just set aside for a minute the hot button topics we disagree about, and look at our every day life. Can we see the love of Christ permeating through our lives? We have allowed the "have it your way" society to trump our mission and Christ-centered way of living. We become more consumed with getting to where we need to go on time and treating the people around us rudely in the process, than we do about sharing the love of Jesus with people and allowing others to be more important than ourselves.
Now am I saying that if we start asking a different question about church that will change all of that? No. It’s a bigger topic than this mental shift and there change that needs to happen, but I will say that changing our mindset and the way of asking what church you go to will make a step in the right direction. Change starts in our mind. One foot in front of the other, going in the right direction, gets you to where you need to go.
Stop merely going to church and start being the church. That doesn’t mean that you’ll stop attending a service on Sunday morning, but it means you’ll be a part of a church that knows that they are more than just a Sunday service. The change in mindset will change the questions you ask and how you make decisions within your church community. Join a group, a community, a body of people who know they are on a mission. When we do that we may see we need to change how we do things because we will stop making decisions for us and shift what we do to accommodate the world around us who needs Jesus!
Church. Do you go? Statistics say most people don't anymore. I have gone pretty much my whole life. Some churches I've attended had pews, others had chairs and some even met in homes. The building or the traditions really aren't the point. Some people get stuck thinking those small details are crucial and they usually end up watching as their church become a sinking ship in a sea of what once was.
What is the point of church? Do we need to do it in a certain order? Do we need to all be together or kids in one room and adults in another? Do we pass an offering plate or allow people to support the church via online website? Do we sing a certain type of song or sing a certain number of songs?
The point of church has nothing to do with any of those questions, in fact when we say church, in truth, we aren't even talking about a building.
The Christian church is in fact, God's people. Those who have chosen to accept Jesus as their Savior and work together as a body of believers. We are the church. I hear people all the time say something and either precede it or finish it with "I probably shouldn't say this in church," as we stand talking in the building we call "our church." Obviously, its okay to still call the building church, but its important we know that we are the church. Our bodies are temples for God's dwelling so the question should be about what we should do with our lives no matter where we are.
The point of church is really connection, worship of God and growing in Him. That comes through songs and a message, but it also comes in a Bible study or small group setting.
This is an important distinction as we seek to make our "churches" places people in 2019 (soon to be 2020) will attend.
When we hold to tradition more than content, we are failing ourselves and those around us. The content is what is important.
I recently had a discussion with a few different people on kids in church. Many older than me feel kids need to be sitting in church with their parents during the service, and quite frankly, if a parent feels that way about their child, then I am not going to disagree. That is their right as the parent, but I actually have a different perspective. I want my kids to fall in love with Jesus. I want them to learn about him, but also connect with him. My relationship with him is not theirs' so to expect them just to carbon copy my experience is not only ill-informed, its naive. For my kids to continue going to church, they don't need to see how I do it, and watch me sing along with worship songs or take notes, during a sermon. They will see my faith every other day in real life. That is what makes the impact. I want them to learn as little kids on their level and build on that, so when its time to be in a church service next to me or in their own church as adults, they have the foundation to build on and can be seeking to grow on their own because it matters to them.
I have a relationship with God because I learned the basics, studied the Bible on my own and because I talk to God as an active part of my life. I talk to God throughout the day and that was because I learned to as a kid.
I don't want my kids to get good at sitting in a pew (or row of chairs), but I want them to be good at going to God and knowing who he is and who he made them to be.
We do need each other and that is why church is so important. We need to be solid on the foundations of Bible knowledge, and we need to be acting like the body of Christ, all working together as we each do our part, but how that is accomplished on a Sunday morning, really is more about the people gathering than it is about tradition.
We live in a different world than the one I grew up in, and we need to do things differently to reach and care for those around us.
If you go to church, why do you go? Have you ever asked, "what is the point," in connection with the aspects of your worship service? Are there things that have become more important to you than the point? If you don't go, and you consider yourself a Christian, do you know why you don't go? It is important that we go deeper and ask the questions. We need to understand the patterns of our daily living and choices. Only then can we grow.
