Church

Today Richard and I skipped out on church. I feel a little bit guilty, not because not attending church is a sin, but because of what I'm missing out on by not being there.


Growing up as a lax catholic (raised to go to church on hoidays and go to religion class, but never told what we're actually supposed to believe and why), church always seemed to be a chore to me.


At 12 years old I sat in the pew, stared at the lights, and made bargains with God ("if you let "Mike" like me, I will promise I won't be mean to my sister"), while not really listening to the priest or understanding why I was there. I especially did not know why church even really existed.


I went 7 years where I didn't believe in God at all and only attended church for family weddings.


I gave my life to Christ at 22, just after getting married. I knew I wanted to find the right church, the perfect church (little did I know that idea didn't exist). To me church was still a building where you went on Sundays to sing a few songs, and listen to a pastor for an hour and that was it. I was ignorant to what the true definition of "The Church" was according to the Bible.


Before I explore God's design for His Church, I'll explain my experience with attending church up until today and then look at how I see church now (and why I feel guilty, even though I shouldn't).


When I became a Christian, I realized that salvation came through faith in Jesus alone, so I figured I should probably attend a Protestant church to learn more about God. I did some research on denominations and was a little hung up on things like Contemporary Worship (use of guitars, drums, keyboards) and somewhat liberal theology. I had stereotypes about certain denominations and at first only tried out "mainline" denominations. I tried Prebyterian, United Methodist, United Church of Christ, and Free Methodist. I stayed away from Lutheran and Episcopal because I thought the would just be "Catholic-Lite" and stayed away from Baptists because I thought it would be a bunch of right-wing conservatives, and stayed away from pentecostal churches because I thought speaking in tongues was nuts.


My first impressions of the Presbyterian, United Methodist and United Church of Christ were that they were still too traditional for my own tastes in terms of worship, and the majority of the congregation were older than 70, which made me feel like it would be a hard place to raise a child within the church if their were no kids their age (little did I know that 8 years later that argument would be moot due to our "issues".)


So we started attending a Free Methodist Church, with a contemporary worship style, a conversational/down-to-earth pastor (no suits, just polos and khakis) who focused on applying the truths of the bible to every day life, and a multi-generation congregation. The best part of the church was how the pastor made a point to say "for those of us who are Christian," recognizing that he may have seekers in his audience who didn't know much about God yet and still had unanswered questions. The pastor always made newcomers feel welcome.  My first time there 6 people greeted me.  


We eventually left that church because I felt a need for more in depth bible study and closer spiritual relationships. But looking back, I was not spiritually mature enough to know how much commitment I should have been putting in to get something out of the church.


We attended three more churches over the course of 4 years, including an "emergent" type church, another Free Methodist church, and a more charismatic non-denominational church. Through those years I learned what it was like to go to a church where you had friends, where people prayed together, where people felt safe to question God and admit doubts, where church was a real family, where worship was heartfelt, pure and overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  I believe I grew spiritually and am grateful for all I've learned and the people who have come and gone through my life through attending different churches.


At the same time, some of these churches displayed lack of organization, sermons that did not focus on the Word but more on people's life stories, sermons that focused too much on the Old Testament and less on the saving grace of Jesus, isolationism, and false prophecy in one way or another. They all worshipped slightly differently, taught slightly different messages, and had a different type of family feel to them.  I could write whole books on my experiences at each.


We left our last church after being there for a year and a half, and getting baptized there. It was truly was the first time we felt part of a church family, so leaving was difficult and it was very hard to find a new church. Some people never find that "church family" they are looking for. I don't want to go too in depth, but we had strong theological differences with our "church family" and both Rich and I felt called by God to leave and seek out a new church.


I still wrestle with our decision to leave, because the truth is you will never attend a church where you agree with everything that everyone else believes, or everything that is preached. However, at the same time, Christians are called to discern what is truth in the eyes of the Lord. Rich and I agreed as a family God was calling us leave.


We searched for a year, and I even went to a few Baptist churches and was impressed with the style of preaching.  But one day I decided to go back to Liverpool Community Church, the church I attended when I was a new christian, after we had first gotten married.  I don't know what led me there that day.  But I was glad I went.  It reminded me that every time I went I felt like I was where God wanted me to be at that moment. At LCC, I always heard what God wanted me to hear that day.  He always knows what on our minds, and works his way into our hearts through His word and His message.


I realized no church is perfect, but there are certain things that I know I need from a church: a loving pastor and lay leadership, welcoming to both christians and non-christians (not living in a church bubble), bible-based teaching, good mix of internal and external outreach.  Basically, the great commission and the great commandment working together.


So what is Church? Finally, the point of my blog.  Let's look at what God says about His Church:


1 Corinithians 12:27-31 reads "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way."


Yes, the church is a building that brings together people with the same basic belief system to learn about and worship God together.  But it's first and foremost the BODY OF CHRIST.  It is the Bride of Jesus.  Just as Adam and Eve became one flesh, Christians are the Body of Christ, His Bride.  Together, Christians, followers of Christ, come together to worship and praise Jesus, to grow in their relationship with Jesus, and with one another, and become one body.


Romans 12:4-8 reads: "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."


As a church body we are connected to each other, we belong to each other, and we are responsible for each other. We must support each other and the gifts we bring to the body, and be accountable to each other as we are accountable to God.  An hour long service once a week will not suffice to accomplish this task.  Churches should look like a family. Just like a family, we all have our roles, our gifts, and it takes effort and work to make the family run smoothly, yet there will always be issues that need to be addressed. 


Some Non-Christians (and even Christians) are weirded out by people spending so much time at church outside of Sunday, but if you want to have a healthy church, it includes being relational with those in your church.  Encouraging each other when you're down, being generous and helpful when others are in need, celebrating together after milestones and successes, and mourning together after tragedies.


Church is not just a building, but a body of believers, brought together by God for fellowship, for praise and worship, and love.


Colossians 3:12-17 reads: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."


There are healthy churches and non-healthy churches.  If you have been turned off by church in the past remember a few things:


1. No church is perfect.  They are all led by imperfect people, however, you should be able to trust your pastor and that s/he is being led by the Holy Spirit to provide a message from God's Word.  In fact, we left every church we've ever attended due to differences with either the style of the pastor's preaching or the actual sermons themselves.  LCC is more life-application, but I can supplement that by joining a more in-depth Bible Study.


2. Church has to be about fellowship, so get to know other attenders by joining a bible study, attending pot luck dinners, or joining a ministry. Until you truly know the people who attend the church, you will not know the heart of the church.


3. Don't let things like the style of music (contemporary vs. traditional), or how people dress (casual vs. dressy) turn you off immediately.  Give the church a chance. Listen to the message and meet some of the people. If they have love in their heart for the Lord and for each other and for people outside the church, you are on the right track.  Music and dress is usually just dressing, it's not meat and bones.


4. Since a church is a family, there will always be some dysfunction, but it's the perfect opportunity for us to show how God changed our lives, by letting Him guide us through conflict-resolution and other issues that may arise anytime a large group of people get together and may have differences of opinion.


5. Consider becoming a member once you decide the church is right for you and your family. By becoming a member you are establishing a bond with the people that attend the church. You are committing yourself not only to Christ but to His Body.  You will be provided with numerous opportunities to serve as Jesus calls us to serve, and love others the way God loves us.  


I'll just finish by saying I'm thankful for God leading me back to Liverpool Community Church. Although I'm not a member yet and still getting to know people, I can see how this one church building with its members is just a small part of Christ's Church, the Body of Christ.  So yeah, I felt guilty for not going today because I missed another opportunity to grow in fellowship with other believers and get to know my church body more.  I missed another opportunity to hear what God wanted me to hear, and learn something about how to be a follower of Christ.  It's so easy to become complacent.  But I know God forgives me.  I'm so thankful for His mercies!


There are many denominations that make up the Body of Christ.  My hope is that one day they can put aside their differences completely and just work towards establishing the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.  That's right! We don't have to wait until Jesus returns.   If you're interested in what I mean, check out the book by Rick McKinley "This Beautiful Mess." He talks about how Jesus called his Body to start establishing the Kingdom of God here on earth.  Everything that Jesus calls us to do as His children is part of that (Sermon on the Mount, etc.).


There's a lot more that I want to say but I should probably spend time with my husband now.


Good night and God Bless,
Love,
Debi