I saw a church leader share this and man, I just can’t figure out why people hardly come to church these days. pic.twitter.com/eXyvHRqpHb
— Fr Jonathan R Turtle ☩ (@turtology) November 29, 2019
In answering why you should go to church, regularly, weekly, most responses seem to focus on how doing so will help you. There was an online discussion this week around an article arguing you should go to church weekly because if you don’t, you’re missing out on using your spiritual gifts; you’re missing out on spiritual gifts meant for you; you’re missing out on the sweetest fellowship this side of heaven… The article was all about me, me, me…
But, what if it is not primarily about “me“?!
There is a (particularly Protestant) perspective that I am saved by accepting Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour – and then church becomes a sort of spiritual support group. Of course, if I find reading my Bible at home more supportive than going to church on Sunday, then the question of why bother going to church becomes pretty loud, doesn’t it? And if you are of the once-saved-always-saved flavour, the question becomes deafening. [Let’s not even go further along the spectrum to the predestined to be saved end].
Going to church, in this approach, is the spiritual equivalent to going to the gym. But, there is a completely different paradigm which turns all this on its head.
What if it is not about me? What if it’s not about how turning up to worship will help me? I just can’t imagine, for example, that an All Black would say the reason he turns up to play the game is that it keeps him fit! It’s about the game – not about the player. And the game doesn’t happen if the player doesn’t turn up.
What if it’s not, “I become a Christian by myself alone (to save my soul alone from hell fire) and then I join the church as a sort of AA-meeting support club”? What if it is actually, “I become a Christian by joining the church”? “I am a Christian because I am a member of the church.”
What if it’s: God acts in the world and the universe, and the church is the sacrament, the outward visible sign, of that action? We, the church, God’s priestly people, gathered and dispersed (like breathing in and out), praise God on behalf of all creation, pray for all creation, act as God’s hands, and feet, and mouth for the sake of all. We are the Body of Christ. To be a Christian means to be part of the Body of Christ. You cannot claim to be a rugby player if you do not play rugby.
And the irony of it is: as we abandon the focus on ME, then we are saved.
Original cartoon by Dave Walker
I absolutely get what you are saying — but I think one of the issues is that some people live in areas where the churches in their vicinity can be quite toxic. And if one looks at the meaning of a Christian as being ‘one who follows the path of Christ’ , then doesn’t that mean a physical organization of a denomination of Christianity isn’t required in order to be Christian? as long as living and following the path of charity, love, etc is first and foremost?
Birch, you make such an important point – one that is being made on twitter in a slightly different way in response to this post also. So much of Christianity I think Jesus would strongly censure. Sadly, finding a non-toxic church community can be soul-destroying. And I also want to highlight that “living and following the path of charity, love, etc is first and foremost” is not reserved to Christians. Many atheists (and those of other faiths) are living the Jesus life in a way that many Christians are not. Blessings.
I think it’s getting easier for me as I get older, yes I am sometimes in a ‘toxic’ church environment, and I generally get up and leave if I’m a visitor, though if I think it will be positive I have written to the preacher with concerns, but less and less these days. ‘He that hath ears to hear let him hear’ Jesus said. If someone can’t hear themself they likely won’t hear anyone else. I have found Unitarian Universalism to be the best spiritual home for me as a Christian in America, some of the kindest most thoughtful and accepting people.
‘We are the Body of Christ.’
Yes, Teresa of Avila: “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”