This week I was asked to read a blog post (and it’s follow up)
posted by a well read author, and comment my opinion. As I read them and
started to reply, I realized I had much more to say on the subject than I would
feel comfortable putting in a comment. So, here is my response to a blog post
from a Christian who seems to believe attending church and church membership
are not biblical or essential. He says he doesn’t attend church very often
because he doesn’t “learn much about God hearing a sermon” and doesn’t “connect
with him by singing songs to him. So, like most men, a traditional church
service can be somewhat long and difficult to get through.”
Before I get into this, I want to clarify; I do not believe
attending church or church membership will send anyone to Heaven. I am not here to judge anyone for not
attending church. However, I believe attending church is a biblical command and
essential to grow as a Christian. We need solid Christian leadership and
community to see ourselves as we really are and learn to let God change the
things that need to be changed.
Personally, I can see why some people would want to do
"church" the way this writer suggests. I can definitely relate to him, as he claims
to be a "hands on" learner; and that is his reason for not wanting to
sit through sermons. I, myself, am
better at learning through experiences and practice. Historically, I haven't
been a person who learns well from lectures or reading. I can also
understand why someone would resist a structured system of authority, such as
church leadership, to help keep us accountable to the teaching of the
Bible.
With that said, I do not think "doing church" the way
he explains in his blog posts is biblical or even helpful. Personally, I see a
lot of holes in his understanding of the church and it's purpose.
My first thought from this post is the author’s claim to learn only
through hands on experiences. I don't really understand how to learn from God's
word without reading it or hearing it read. Traditionally, I have been mostly a
hands on learner. As a teenager and young adult, I may have been caught falling
asleep during a sermon or two. I could even fall asleep as I tried to read my
bible, it didn’t interest me enough to pay attention. What changed? My heart
changed!! With the help of the Holy Spirit, I not only really like to listen to
my pastors preach each week, I usually hear something awesome to apply to my
life and my understanding of God. One benefit of going to church and hearing a
sermon weekly is that the Holy Spirit says different things to different people
using the same scripture. As for reading my bible, even now, I could stand to
read my bible more (a lot more). However, I now enjoy reading it and I enjoy
hearing from the Holy Spirit when I do take the time to read my Bible. It is
time I never regret afterwards.
So for you “hands on” learners out there who find it difficult
to sit through a sermon, you can ask God to help you connect to him through it.
You don’t have to take in the entire sermon to find something you can relate to
in it. My pastor has an example of this I would like to share: If you are
standing in a rainstorm, you don’t have to take on all of the rain to get wet.
I believe not trying is like holding up an umbrella to what God may want to tell
you. In the follow-up post, the author uses an analogy of using different
camera angles to approach the subject of “church.” I like the idea of using
different camera angles to approach scripture, and I can’t do that by myself.
Sometimes God uses my pastor or another church teacher to show me the different
angles I fail to notice on my own.
Jeremiah 33:3 (ESV)
Call to me and I
will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not
known.
My second, but not less important, thought is his views on
worship. Actually, he seems to have left them out. He wrote that he “connects”
with God through his work but didn’t share how he “worships” God. The first and foremost commandment God
gives us is about worship. Exodus 20:3 says, "You shall have no other gods
before me." For the purpose of this blog post, I will give him the benefit
of the doubt and write as if that is what he meant. Worshiping God
through work is commendable and commanded. But so is worshiping God through
song and every other area of our lives.
Colossians 3:16,17
(ESV)
16 Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all
wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with
thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through
him.
Sometimes I don’t feel like singing to God, or even worse,
sometimes I sing to God without actually singing “to God.” I sing the words and
try to make it sound pretty, but I do it more to hear myself sing than for him.
Does that mean I should stop singing? I don’t think so. When sin entered the
world it corrupted us to our very core. We will find a way to worship ourselves
in everything we do without the help of the Holy Spirit. When I am not finding
“intimacy with God” while trying to worship, I ask him to change my heart, not
the circumstances of my worship.
I love this quote from Warren Wiersbe:
“We worship God because He is worthy and not because we as
worshipers get something out of it. If we look upon worship only as a means of
getting something from God, rather than giving something to God, then we make God
our servant instead of our Lord, and the elements of worship become a cheap
formula for selfish gratification.”
I fear using work as a primary means of worship would leave
ourselves open to substituting our worship of God with worship of ourselves.
Especially when money is involved, as it is when working to build a business,
it would take special perception from the Holy Spirit to be sure our motives
are truly on God. I’m not saying we can’t or shouldn’t worship with our work,
only that we should also find other, less self serving, ways to worship the God
of the Universe.
In his follow up post, he takes a slightly more neutral stance,
however he tells us the Bible does not instruct us “on building and running a
church community.” He says,” the book of Acts has a few marching
orders, but as a writer I assure you, that’s not the authors intent in that
book. It’s a history of the early church and an encouragement for us.” To be
honest, I’m not sure, “as a writer” he is qualified to tell us for sure the
author’s intent in that book.
He also says “Your church likely looks nothing like the church
in the book of Acts, which, was not much of a prescription on how to do church
anyway. There are some marching orders in the book, but there aren’t many.
Mostly those direct instructions are about choosing elders and deacons and
dividing up each others money so that it’s shared. But that’s mostly it.”
2 Timothy 3:16
(ESV)
All Scripture is
breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness
There are many churches trying to model themselves after the
“early church” in Acts.
Act 2:42-47 (ESV)
42 And they
devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders
and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things
in common. 45 And they
were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to
all, as any had need. 46 And
day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their
homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor
with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those
who were being saved.
This says they:
·
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (Modern day
sermons and bible reading)
·
They devoted themselves to fellowship…..attending the temple
together and breaking bread in their homes (Modern day worship gatherings and
small groups).
·
They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and the
prayers. (Modern day communion and prayer meeting or services).
·
The Lord added to their number day by day to those who were
being saved (Modern day Evangelism).
This model sounds very much like many of the modern day churches
I have been to. Are they all perfectly like this? Absolutely not!! But keep in mind, all churches are made up of
human beings and directly affected by sin.
One misconception about this passage is about money. It doesn’t
say they sold all of their possessions and distributed all of it. It says they
sold their belongings and distributed it as any had need. This would be similar
to a modern day church having a rummage sale for a family in need, or maybe
taking donations from other members to help out someone in need. This, too, is
expected and happens all the time in modern day churches.
I want to throw out two more scriptures that I believe directly
instructs us to attend church:
Hebrews 13:17(ESV)
Obey your leaders
and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who
will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning,
for that would be of no advantage to you
1 Thessalonians
5:12,13(ESV)
12 We ask you,
brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and
admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of
their work. Be at peace among yourselves
The only way to do that is by publicly committing to be members
of their flock, and saying in effect, “I commit to listening to your teaching,
following your direction, and to submitting to your leadership.” There’s no way
to obey the scriptural commands to submit to your leaders if you never
actually submit to them by joining a local church.
If I sound a little passionate about this topic, it’s because I
am. When my husband and I returned to church several years ago, it was life
changing. After never really being able to enjoy listening to a sermon, I felt
God was directly talking to me, week after week. And my life changed forever.
What would my life look like now if I had held up my umbrella and refused to
find what God had for me? What type of state would my heart be in now if it
wasn’t for the church community who were willing to speak into my life and show
me things about myself I couldn’t see? As Christians, we need The Church.
If you would like to read the blog post I am commenting about, here are the links:
“I Don’t Worship God By Singing”“Why I Don’t Go to Church Very Often: A Foll
Here is also a link to an open letter in response to these post that I really enjoyed reading:
Dear Donald Miller
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