Why do you go to church? When you wake up on a Sunday morning and make that decision to get ready, get in your car, and go to church, what motivates you to do that?
This is the question I have been pondering. I think that one of the saddest things about the modern church is that we have reduced it to showing up on Sunday morning, singing some worship songs, shaking a few strangers hands, and then listening to a sermon. Then many believers leave for the week, feeling as though somehow they have accomplished their biggest "Christian duty" for the week.
I do believe that the Sunday morning experience is an important if not strategic part of a believer's spiritual life, but it is not by any means the end all of "church." There is just something in my gut that twists a bit when I hear about believers go to a church service because they feel as though they need to. I just had a friend who is in between churchs. A hard place to be (I know). They went to a church last week that they knew they did not want to attend. Mainly because they had been there before, they knew how to get in and out and it accomplished the task of "going to church." I just thought it was kind of silly, admirable, but silly.
I began wondering how Paul would have thought about the church. I think he would have defined it as a group of people who gathered for worship, teaching and prayer BUT that also lived within community. I think that it is that last part that we so easily give up on in today's church. We don't push into our churches, we expect them to cater to our needs. We don't reach out and serve readily, then we wonder why we feel disconnected and our not growing spiritually.
I recently "jumped in" at my new church - Life Church. I may live to regret that. No church is perfect. I decided though that I had a decision to make. I could either jump in now, or wait around for what? You can't learn most things about a church from its sidelines. So I jumped.
Anyway, all that to say, think about it this weekend - why are you waking up to go to church? Is it a part of your holistic spiritual diet, or is it your only meal the whole week through? How can we influence those around us to view church in the holistic, communal way?
This is the question I have been pondering. I think that one of the saddest things about the modern church is that we have reduced it to showing up on Sunday morning, singing some worship songs, shaking a few strangers hands, and then listening to a sermon. Then many believers leave for the week, feeling as though somehow they have accomplished their biggest "Christian duty" for the week.
I do believe that the Sunday morning experience is an important if not strategic part of a believer's spiritual life, but it is not by any means the end all of "church." There is just something in my gut that twists a bit when I hear about believers go to a church service because they feel as though they need to. I just had a friend who is in between churchs. A hard place to be (I know). They went to a church last week that they knew they did not want to attend. Mainly because they had been there before, they knew how to get in and out and it accomplished the task of "going to church." I just thought it was kind of silly, admirable, but silly.
I began wondering how Paul would have thought about the church. I think he would have defined it as a group of people who gathered for worship, teaching and prayer BUT that also lived within community. I think that it is that last part that we so easily give up on in today's church. We don't push into our churches, we expect them to cater to our needs. We don't reach out and serve readily, then we wonder why we feel disconnected and our not growing spiritually.
I recently "jumped in" at my new church - Life Church. I may live to regret that. No church is perfect. I decided though that I had a decision to make. I could either jump in now, or wait around for what? You can't learn most things about a church from its sidelines. So I jumped.
Anyway, all that to say, think about it this weekend - why are you waking up to go to church? Is it a part of your holistic spiritual diet, or is it your only meal the whole week through? How can we influence those around us to view church in the holistic, communal way?
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