It appears to me that the majority of Christian church congregations go to church on Sunday and call themselves Christians. I guess I am confused by this. What is the point of going to church? If it is to learn then I am curious as to what we are supposed to be doing with the material we are learning? Would we go to college for the rest of our lives and never put the gained knowledge to use?
Monday, August 30, 2010
What is the point of church?
Good Monday morning all! Here is a question emailed to me recently about the relevance of going to church. I know a lot of folks who share the sentiment in this question and I would love to get a good dialogue going this week about the pros and cons of going to church....
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One wouldn't likely go to a surgeon for a heart transplant who'd finished his residency in 1950 and never learned another thing about medicine. No field of knowledge has been exhausted. There will always be more to learn; in science and in spiritual matters.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I don't think learning is the only reason Christians ought to gather together. Hebrews 10:24-25 points to mutual encouragement as another reason for 'church'. The early church met together for corporate worship; prayer, singing of hymns & psalms, as well as preaching/teaching. The call to love one another, bear one another's burdens, etc. indicate a life lived together to some extent. So, does church have to be a guy in a suit, behind a podium, talking for an hour? No. It might involve that, but it is so much more. And we should seek after a full expression of what the gathering together can be and not settle for "church-lite". Which brings us back to the original question. A church that is just learning and no doing, is not real church.
I agree with Ross. Church is the people, not the formal institution. When I was in college my friends and I would gather to eat together, pray together, talk about scripture and worship. While you could say this is a Bible Study, that is also the image of the Church.
ReplyDeleteI think the purpose of Sunday formal church is to build a larger community. While it is necessary to have a small group whom you can be deeply intimate with, while that is difficult to have that with more people. The larger church also provides for greater pooling of resources for service in the name of Christ. In addition, keeping Sunday as a time of rest allows us to focus on God, almost a restart if needed.
Fellowship Denver made volunteering my time with the Denver Rescue Mission a real possibility, but I chose to wrench on my bike instead. Manual High School has an undeserved population of youth that are in need of our compassion and some members of my fellowship group are volunteering to change these students lives, but I just bought a new race frame and I'm focused on riding it. I'm sick and I think that I need help to change.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm in fellowship with the guys that I've met at our church, I'm moved towards being transparent in a way that reveals my ugly sin, which ultimately leads me towards repentance, a change of direction, and a love for God above all else (even above bike parts).
Apart from fellowship, I rarely feel like I do right now: convicted. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to think about this question and hopefully be changed by it.
This has been the strongest exhortation from Scripture that I have found as to the gathering together of believers (going to church). It aids in christian maturity and growth, accountability, structure, discipline, life priorities, and encouragement.
ReplyDeleteHbr 10:24 - 25
and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Here is a good video clip from John MacAurther I found recently covering this passage.
- A Warning to Not Skip Church, or Something More? (Hebrews 10)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56dUmxlE4I8
Thanks, Ross, Andrew, Brian and Jesse! Great comments all of you...
ReplyDelete