The subject of church is touchy.
To many people, church is a way of life, a non-negotiable part of how they were raised and who they are. To others, church is a preference.
For the sake of being open-minded, clear your head of all of the boundaries you put on church, just for a moment. Erase the rules and regulations you may have grown up under and focus, just for a few minutes, on what God says about church.
First of all, the term "church" isn't referring to a building or a specific place at all. So any concept that Christ REQUIRES physical church attendance 3 times a week is ridiculous. In His writings about the "church" He is actually referring to Christians or believers as a whole.
Romans 12:5 - So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Ephesians 2:21 - In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple IN THE LORD.
As a believer and follower of Christ, you are a part of a large group, or body of members. Together, we make up His "Church."
1 Corinthians 3:9 - For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
As the Church of Christ, we should join together with other believers to fellowship with one another, encourage one another, love one another, worship God together, and share in our efforts to tell the world about Jesus. Unfortunately, so many "churches" these days have stopped at fellowship. Judgement has clouded their eyes and they can no longer find it within themselves to encourage and love their fellow members.
Ephesians 4:15-16 - Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow that it builds itself up in love.
Just as a Pastor leads his church members, or a shepherd leads his sheep, Christ leads the church (entire body of believers). The physical church, which we are accustomed to attending, as actually a physical imitation of Christ's relationship with us as Christians.
Aside from failing to love and encourage one another, Christians of the local church, I feel, have honestly forgotten (or maybe they were never taught) what our existence on earth is for. God made us for His utmost glory. We were created in His perfect image to worship Him with all of our days. Unfortunately, many people lose sight of our purpose and get so bogged down with this life we have created that will ultimately fade to absolutely nothing.
On top of losing sight of our purpose, when mankind sinned, Jesus had to pay our price to make a way for us to get to Heaven with our sinless Creator. As a result, we are called to seek and to save people who are still lost in their sins. One of the purposes of the local church is to join together in our commandment to go unto the earth and spread the gospel.
Mark 16:15 - And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."
It breaks my heart to see local churches ministering to only the few members within their walls. This is such a misrepresentation of what God called us to do. In all honesty, i t i s a w a s t e o f t i m e .
God didn't write the Bible and ask us to choose a handful of principles to live by. He wrote the complete and infallible Word of God to teach us how to live like Jesus, to give us examples of how to love, to command us to reach the world with the gospel, and to invite us to have a personal love relationship with him in which we can't stand to NOT worship.
So now that you know what the church is and should be doing, lets talk about a few common misconceptions about church.
~ The church was intended for so much more than 3 required services a week and a dress code.
Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you to attend church a certain number of times a week. If your relationship with God is strong, you will WANT to go to church to fellowship with others of a like mind, and to work in reaching the world for Jesus.
Dress codes are man made to keep a group of people in accountability to man, they do nothing for reaching the world for Christ. You can argue all day with me, but modesty is an opinion and personal conviction for Christ. Dressing someone up on the outside changes nothing about their heart and it is so sad to see so many churches waste their time and energy on such irrelevant things.
~ Church can't and shouldn't take the place of your PERSONAL relationship with God.
Being in church doesn't make you "spiritual" and being out of church doesn't make you unsaved. In fact, as sad as this sounds, some of the farthest people from God are found within the walls of the local church. How is this possible? Because so many people confuse going to church with being close to God. Just because you attend church every time the doors are open, doesn't mean you are close to God. Many people sit through service after service and never hear a word because they are so mentally distracted or their hearts are just closed off to the Word of God. To have a personal relationship with God, you have to treat it as you would a relationship with someone important to you. You can't ignore someone for 10 months out of the year and expect to know all about them and be close with them, can you? No. So why do we try that with God? We have to talk to Him every day in prayer. We have to read his Word, the Bible, the beautiful love letter He wrote us to learn more about Him and how He wants us to act. It takes effort. And just as any other relationship, there will be days you don't feel like talking to Him. You'll get busy. Focus on making Him a priority every single day. It's a choice. A daily choice.
~ Going to church WON'T make you a better Christian.
I hear this so often. "Well, I decided I needed to start being a better Christian and get back in church." No, let me stop you right there. First of all, there aren't good and bad Christians. There are Christians walking closely with God and doing His work, and Christians who aren't. Sadly, many of the Christians who aren't, are the ones sitting in the pews EVERY Sunday getting that worldly praise for doing the right thing, when in reality, all they are doing is attending another meeting. Christians walking with God and doing His will are often found in the middle of ministry on the mission field, maybe locally or internationally. So, reevaluate next time you think going to church will make you better or help you "better" yourself. No. Getting closer to God will make you better. Learning about your Savior, your Creator and his desires for you life will make you better, not sitting on a church pew 3 times a week. It's not about the motions, its about the heart. Don't look outward, look inward.
~ Forcing your own personal convictions on people won't reach others for Christ, in fact, it deters them.
This one is probably one of my biggest pet peeves, honestly. I understand that, as a Christian, we are to uphold a standard of living and way of life that pleases God. But look back at our mission commanded to us by God: to reach others. So if forcing your opinion of dress on a nonbeliever makes them walk away from the doors of your church, then you're doing it wrong. In fact, Christians often take it a step further and take it upon themselves to judge other Christians based on what they wear, who they hang out with, where they spend time, and what music they listen to. This also pushes people away from church and the judgmental Christians within it.
Matthew 7:1 - Judge not, that you be not judged.
John 8:7 - And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
We weren't placed on this earth to judge anyone or to tell anyone how to live. Sure, we may not agree with them or their actions, but focusing on others takes our focus off of Christ.
Realizing what the purpose of church is and isn't can really help you reevaluate how you look at church and how you view others. I'm hoping it helped someone out there to value the importance of their relationship with God, rather than valuing their attendance record.
I suppose the end all, take away, I'd have for you in this blog, would be to focus on your relationship with God and your position as a member in His local church. Remember your purpose and your mission: to worship God and reach others. Try not to lose sight of that in your busy week and seek opportunities to tell people about Christ or invite them to church with you.
It could save a life. Literally.
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