Why You Shouldn't Go To Church - And If You Are... Stop

The institutional Christian church has nearly always been a mess.  I assume there were a few weeks or so after Pentecost where God’s spirit was so powerfully received and the people’s understanding of their (juxtaposed) depravity and blessing was so poignant that they just could not help themselves and they truly lived in love and grace without regard to each others failings.  However, for the most part, from the time people began gathering on a regular basis to practice religion, they have been doing it wrong.  I myself have experienced primarily Christian church so I’ll be speaking from that perspective.  But as far as I can tell, the same issue haunts nearly every religion known to man.  

When Jesus walked the earth, he hollered more at the religious synagogue attenders than at any other group.  The letters that make up the New Testament are full of a repeated reproach,  “What in God’s name are you doing?  That is not how it’s supposed to work!!” I’ve taken some poetic license.  

Since 1986, I’ve been a resident in Clark County (except for a three year stint as a pastor in Olympia).  During that time - up until 2009, I’ve participated in three churches.  One of them from even before it formally began.  I set up chairs, decorated for holidays, built various items, taught Sunday School, taught the New Believers Class, ran the Middle School Ministry, the High School Ministry and the Young Adults Ministry, elded on the Elder board, planned and ran retreats, camps and mission trips, cooked, cleaned, counseled, sang in the choir, transported, trained and taught from the pulpit, taught workshops, led small groups, written manuals, coached pastors, gave thousands of dollars, prayed, encouraged, hired, fired and showed up pretty much whenever the doors were open.  I’m soaked in it!

Since 2009, for various reasons, none vindictive or critical, I’ve not been a regular attender at any particular church.  Because it has been part of my bio for so long, I’m asked by nearly everyone I run into, if I haven’t seen them in awhile, “Where are you guys going to church?”  It’s been interesting to not have a short answer to that question.  I get one of two diametrically opposed emotional responses.  One response is a bit of twitching and squirming as my casual interrogator worries that I’m preparing to talk them into backsliding with me.  The other is comprised of a great degree of enthusiastic interest.  Usually this is from someone who has a chip on their shoulder regarding institutional church or someone who is desperately hoping there is more to it than they are currently experiencing.

I heartily believe there is more to it than any of us is experiencing.  More and better.  And I think that’s what Jesus was hollering about.  Punctuality, cleanliness, architecture, stained glass, comfortable chairs, well prepared teaching, comfortable volume, an appropriate wardrobe and hair cut fall really far short of the intended gift of “church.”  Mission statements, discipleship classes, committees, felt boards and macaroni glued to sticky paper are wonderful and useful.  Truly, all the above mentioned have a place.  In varying degrees, according to specific circumstances, they are crucial.  But they are not the substance of what makes church “life-changing”.  They are not what answers the desperate hope for something more.  They may provide a platform, a construct, an environment - but, they do not transform life from “of this world” to “of the kingdom of heaven.”  They are not the magic.

So, the reason you should not go to church is because church is not a place you go.  The question, “where do you go to church?” is a too simple question with a too simple answer.  It is who and what you are together with those you share Life with, not where you are for 90 minutes on Sunday morning.  It is a result of how you live, how you relate to the people around you, what you say, how you invest your time, how you follow Jesus and what in you gets broken and healed along the way.  

We are invited and challenged to wakeful participation in a great cosmic battle in which we have a crucial role.  We are full of the same resurrection power that woke our Savior after three days of death.  Our enemy is bent, absolutely viciously focused on ruining his new plan and any of us that dare to take up the weapons of warfare with him.  Imagine the gathering in a pub of battle weary soldiers.  Every week they gather with stories of heroism, close calls, frustrations, victories, losses, ambushes and defections.  They are dirty, bruised, tired and exultant.  They are warriors and the enemy fears their greatness for they are fearful.  How silly it would be to think that what defines them is where they meet each week to have a beer.  If you ran into one of them during the week, it would not be the most relevant question.  It would, in fact, only be relevant in the context of what they did, how they lived and how the battle went, during the week.  

We are those warriors.

When you gather with those you gather with to celebrate, worship, heal, learn and share life - you bring all the large and small elements and events of your life with you.  That and all the others doing the same is what makes up church.  It’s much more a result of how all of you spent the last six days than the cause of how you spend the next six.

I have a few disclaimers:  

First, IN NO WAY WHATSOEVER am I suggesting that institutional church is bad or ready to be abandoned.  That is a ridiculously oversimplified and selfish response to unavoidable imperfection.  

Second, trying to explain church is very much like trying to explain marriage.  It’s a mysterious, powerful connection enlivened and filled by a source that is itself unexplainable.  

Third, while I said before that I believe all religions struggle with their practice, as far as I know, Christianity is the only one that offers an alternative to “doing it right”.  As a follower of Christ, I acknowledge that He has done all the work to make me capable of relating to him and my fellow man in an eternal life giving/receiving way.  All other religions continue to require work in order to achieve their benefits.

So, let’s stop “going to church.”  Let’s start being the church all day, every day, with each other.  Instead of seeing what’s going to happen on Sunday, bring what happened and what’s happening, who you are and an eagerness to give and receive.  Don’t evaluate the message, the music and the lighting, listen for the heart of Jesus toward you and those you sit with.  He has something for you that will transform your life and make you a better warrior / worshiper.