I run into some folks from time to time that I get into great discussions with about this topic or that. They’ve thought deeply about life and sometimes the shape of eternity. I’ll say, “Hey, why don’t you come to worship on Sunday, my message this week is about this very thing…etc.”
A few of them have shown up, a few of them think it’s a cynical ploy for money, and not a few have replied with something like, “Oh, I’m not the churchy type.” This has kind of bothered me because obviously there is a negative image that they are conjuring up.
Maybe they’ve had a bad church experience. It’s obvious from the news, stories in the community, and even in my own church, that churches have sometimes caused pain. Despite being places where God should be most felt, churches are run by people, and people sin.
The Greek word that usually gets translated as “sin” means to miss the mark or stray from the path. That’s what Christians are doing when their witness isn’t about the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
Yes, sin is real, repentance is important, holiness is the heart and life that God wishes for you, but without the gospel of Christ’s love and grace, wholeness and healing, churches wind up being places of condemnation, not beacons of hope.
My own experience, though, has been that most churches are places where the gospel is front and center, where people are warm and friendly, and where after issues erupt and anger flares, most people come back to themselves and forgive, embrace, and lift each other up.
If you’ve been to a church where judgment reigns rather than grace, maybe you’re the one to get the grace ball rolling. By all means, if there’s been actual abuse, report it and move on, but other than that, I’d bet you’ll find if you can let stuff go, so can others. Christianity is built on forgiveness.
Maybe the “churchy type” isn’t the hurtful, judgmental person, but you know, that person whose politics don’t quite line up. Maybe the folks I talk to are afraid going to worship means supporting the “wrong” political agenda or whatever.
Let me suggest this – we live in an incredibly polarized society. Often, however, there is truth at both extremes and sometimes even more in the center.
I’m not talking about compromising the essentials of faith, but when it comes to the political footballs of the day, I’d guess we could actually learn from each other if we sat down and talked, spent time with each other, and tried to find some common ground rather than trying to tear each other down.
That’s where your local church becomes important. I don’t believe everyone sitting in front of me on Sunday morning has to hold to the same theological or political positions that I do. My job is to introduce people to Jesus Christ and hope they’ll get to know him as their Lord and Savior, and seek to be faithful to his call to follow him.
But I think that’s going to look different for everyone. I think we are all on a journey of discovery together and learning from each other even as we listen for the Holy Spirit.
We’ve gotten this idea that going to worship is about “getting something out of it” – which is admirable in some ways, and I hope people do get something out of a service at Zoar. But what’s wrong with this is the idea that when you go to church you are a consumer rather than a participant in a community.
Last week I preached on the story from Luke in which four men dig a hole in a roof to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. It’s a great picture of what church really should be – all of us lifting each other up, being extraordinary stretcher bearers for each other in our times of sickness, grief, fatigue from the daily grind, or spiritual paralysis.
Going to church isn’t really all about you, it is about praising God and hearing a word, but importantly it’s about being in community for others – those alike and those different, those who you might not have thought of as fellow travelers, but who you begin to see as being on a journey of faith just like you.
Hey, go to worship. You’re the “churchy type.” Maybe you just don’t know it yet!
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This week our contributor is Daren Blanck, pastor of Zoar Church in Tofte, a teacher at William Kelley High School and a student of Beyond the River Academy, a ministry program of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.
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