I spoke with an old friend who told me that she no longer attended church services. After disappointment with failed leadership and less than perfect fellow Believers, she decided that her Christianity would be privatized - in her words: 'It's just Jesus and me these days.' I don't doubt her sincerity, but to use an old cliché, she is sincerely wrong. Our conversation revealed that since she stopped being a part of a local congregation her faith has grown increasingly anemic, her service in the Name of Jesus sporadic at best and truthfully (in her words- nearly none existent), and that her kids have abandoned faith entirely. You and I need the Church to thrive spiritually! God says so, "...let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:25, NLT)
So what is a church?
One thing I can tell you with certainty - it isn't the building! Yes, we commonly refer to the structures, big and small, where Christians gather for worship as 'church' but the Scripture never once suggests that a building is the 'church.' The church is not just your church, or my church, either. I was raised among Believers who had an awfully exclusive view about who were actually the 'real' Christians in the world. Not surprisingly, it was 'us!' But, with a more mature understanding of the Bible, I realize that there are many expressions of faith, many ways to worship, and that the qualifier for being 'in the Church' is not the way one is baptized, or the liturgy of worship; it is whether a person is 'in Christ' through faith in the Cross and the Resurrection. Paul reminds us of the breadth of the family of God when he says: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28, NKJV)
Christians become 'a church' in many different ways - meeting in mega-groups of thousands in mall-sized buildings or in a small group of a dozen in a living room or coffee shop. They may create a highly structured liturgical service led by robed priests, or they may worship in Pentecostal fervor akin to the chaos of a sporting event! But Jesus promised that "whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you." (Matthew 18:20, CEV)
What many think is the 'true' church, is more likely an expression of their spiritual training, their personal preferences, their culture, or their socio-economic status. Church is where God calls us into relationships that complement and enrich us. The best churches are not those where all the people look, think, and act the same way! The best churches are diverse in race, in age, in culture, and in spiritual gifts. That kind of church is full of conflict, just like a big dysfunctional family, but glued together by love for Jesus that becomes love for each other. In that setting, the Spirit does something marvelous in those who participate. They learn to get over their self-consciousness, to love instead of just 'like' other people. They find that God can use people who are very different, people that in another setting with whom they would choose not to be associated! This kind of church is much more relational than programmed. The music may not always be first rate. The preaching may leave something to be desired. But there is love and there is a strong desire to just 'be the people of God.'
Church is a place where we un-learn our love for Self, and discover the amazing power of loving and being loved. (Or, at least that what I believe Church ought to be!) We show that love with commitment to the church of God in good times and bad times, in times when things are going our way and when we feel that the 'family' has failed us. We make casseroles for the sad, hold each other up when the winds of life try to knock us over, celebrate our successes and survive our defeats. It isn't usually very pretty but when it is authentic, it is one of the most beautiful things on earth.
Believer if you have decided to privatize your faith, let me urge you to re-think that choice. Start to pray that God will show you where you can plug into His Church. Don't just look for the one with the great music, or the stellar youth program, or the preacher who is able to tell a good story.
Look for the one with Life, one to which God is calling you. Marry it! Love it! Serve Him as you serve His Church. Be selfless and inspire others to love Him selflessly, too. Your Christian life will be deepened. Your kids will stick with the faith. Best of all, the work of God will be done, perhaps inefficiently, but effectively in the world.
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