Don’t Attend Church.

Full disclosure – I really mean don’t “just” attend church. I think. This may be a long one…

First off, I am the world’s worst blogger. Promised a post Tuesday, getting to it late at night on Saturday. Lots of excuses – work, family stuff, an unexpected funeral to attend (are they ever really expected?). Blah blah blah. Of course, that would matter tremendously if anyone actually READ this thing. I think I can humbly ask the three of you I pay to check my spelling and grammar for your forgiveness and I’m in the clear.

The most signifigant delay this week was meeting up with a friend who is a pastor for coffee. During that conversation, he recommended a book called “Jim & Casper Go to Church“, which I promptly ordered from Amazon. I picked “slow boat from China” shipping since it was free and I’m cheap, but it came like the next day. And I started reading the first chapter. And then I realized I needed to finish the sucker before I wrote this next part. Three hours later (don’t be impressed – it’s not a big book and the words are mostly pretty small), I have completed it and HAVE to write RIGHT NOW!! 

The question I posed last time I wrote was:

“Do we really need to attend church?” My answer – Emphatically yes. And emphatically no. As Bill Clinton would say, “depends on what your definition of the word ‘is’ is.” In this case, it depends on your definition of the word “church.”

And I really am going to answer that. But I have to deal with my immediate thoughts and feelings from this book. They are very important to the issue at bar, and I hope will not be much of a tangent. Maybe this post will only address the first assertion – why we should NOT attend church.

Jim and Casper Go to Work Messing With My Brain

The premise of the Jim and Casper book was an experiment Jim Henderson (Christian / pastor type) concocted, to take an atheist friend to a bunch of churches, large and small, all across America and have him give honest opinions about them. They attended some churches I have attended, some churches led by dudes whose books I have read (in college and otherwise), and some small emerging type spots I’ve never heard of but would like to visit sometime.

Needless to say, he eviscerated the American church, as you would expect any atheist to do. Obviously he doesn’t agree with the premise (that there is a God), so he would have to run everything he sees and hears through the filters of secular humanism and the scientific method. I won’t go into massive detail here, since I’d rather you three buy the book and support this Jimbo fella. But my overall general experience was a roller-coaster ride that progressed like this:

1. Fervent agreement.  I found myself in complete agreement with so many of Casper’s beefs with the churches he visited. He said things I have said before. He said other things I didn’t want to hear but agreed with.
    
2. Embarrassment.  I found myself cringing as he described things I have seen, done participated in, or perpetuated that have no basis in the message of Jesus – they are simply part of our culture or tradition.
    
3. Hope.  Some of the churches they visited gave me hope for us all – there are some folk out there who really get it. I need to go see some of those people…
    
4. Frustration.(I found myself continually frustrated by the elevation of the opinions of one single atheist (well read, hip, trendy and cool, but still one guy from one background, with one particular set of beliefs, strongly held, meant to represent how all non-christian people feel and think. I was also frustrated to how much credence was given to his arguments based on the scientific method, which is the ultimate in human arrogance – the assertion that everything that is true or can be known with certainty can be proven by a method that we invented. We are only certain of gravity because we invented the parameters that define it. God cannot be so quantified.
    
5. Resignation.  Some folk have decided that faith in God is a subjective personal matter, and the only thing that matters is how that makes you a better member of the human race. For Casper, if believing in God makes you a better person, then he is all for that. But even if Christians performed all the acts he demands of Christians (serving the poor, loving our enemies, etc, – all the things Jesus taught us to do), he would still not believe their actions proved they had met God, only that their belief in that concept had made them better people. So some people have their mind made up. I know this because he met people who functioned in this way and came to these conclusions. So I have to leave his soul in Jesus hands, and I am thankful he has good Christian examples in his life (including a pastor who plays in his band). We are all truly without excuse.
    
6. More Frustration and a little Helplessness.  I remembered Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians: “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?”
    
7. Epiphany and Determination.  Determination to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And small epiphanies about what that might possibly someday begin to mean. It’s a journey.

 

Jesus Didn’t Die For Our Definition of Church

He died for His. Since the three of you have not read this book, let me use a quote as my premise for the rest of this. Here is a section from the closing chapter:

“Casper saw and experienced – over and over and over again – what Christians do when they do church…the same format repeated itself regardless of the setting. the greet-sing-preach-collect-present form played out in front of us with unrelenting predictability. And when it was all done, he would turn to me and ask, ‘Jim, is this what Jesus told you guys to do?’

“If people…wanted to see what Christians were most interested in…they would have to conclude that Jesus’ number one priority was that Christians invest the very best of their energy and money into putting on a huge church service – a killer show, as it were…

“When we invite people to church, we typically invite them to a church service. Much of our mission lives and dies with how they interpret that experience.”

Jesus, in fact, did die for His church, even though He only used the specific word on two occasions. Jesus message centered on the Kingdom, the organized expression of which was termed the church by the writers of the rest of the New Testament (and validated by the words of Jesus in Revelation, referring to the “angel of the church in…”. And Jesus clearly indicated He would build His church.

Of course the issue with this in the modern context is exactly what Casper observed – in our commercial culture, we have made Sunday morning (or whenever our main weekly meeting is) the “Big Show” (or “The Every Sunday Superbowl” as it was referred to in one world I once lived in). This means we equate spirituality with attendance, but we also presume our most effective effort to introduce people to faith in Jesus will happen in this context. This has led to a flurry of other problems, like people who believe their sole purpose on the planet is to get people to come to their church, arrogance and competitiveness among churches (“my church is the best church EVER”), insecurity about our numbers, and a massively inappropriate appropriation of resources to perpetuate and elevate the weekly gathering.

So we have to deal with Casper’s question: “is this what Jesus told you guys to do?” I put it to myself even harder:

“Is this what Jesus died for?”

This is not a new question for me. I’ve been asking it for a long time. I feel the need here to establish some credentials and make some confessions. I have been in the “church” all my life. I have been a part of semi-large church endeavors. I have been in full or part time vocational ministry for over 10 years of my adult life. I’ve seen it, done it, been there. And I confess – I have been part of perpetuating a system I now openly question. I have put on big events and told people all they had to do was bring their friends so they could meet Jesus. I have allowed people’s personal responsibility for representing Jesus to their world to end at being a moral person, attending church, and inviting others to do the same. And I have come to believe that the corporate, commercial, attractional nature of what the church in America has become completely misses the point.

But I have also tried to grow, to learn, and I have been out of the full-time vocational ministry for awhile now – on purpose, trying to find out what Jesus is doing and how I can be a part of it again. One more confession – I don’t have any answers, only my best attempt at the right questions. And lots of opinions. And a deep yearning in the bottom of my soul to know and experience the kind of real community of faith I have read about and see reflected in the words of Jesus and the writings of His disciples.

Don’t just attend church.

Back to the point of this post. I think no one should not EVER simply attend church. Just attending a church in America is the best way I can think of to destroy your hope of finding authentic faith. It’s like going to community college for the rest of your life but never getting a job. Eventually, you will know enough to teach the classes yourself (and some of them will let you), but you won’t have any actual experience. And that is sad.

Jesus died to reconcile us to God, to give us real relationship with Him. He explained this relationship as a actual, full-time connection. He intended that our everyday lives would be lived in constant contact with eternity through the Holy Spirit, living and breathing and working in and through us. This is actually how we were created to live in the first place. The cross and the resurrection provide a complete restoration of this relationship.

Some will argue, then, that we do not need the church at all. Hebrews clearly establishes that we no longer need an earthly priest – that we can step boldly into God’s very throne room. I John 2 says we do not need anyone to teach us, the anointing of the Spirit does that. And I could go on proof-texting in misleading ways, as many others have done, for quite some time. But here are my real postulates:

– The Bible and early church history establish clearly that regular gatherings of Christians were not only recommended, but considered an integral component of being a follower of Christ. The New Testament does not support the concept of an individualized, personalized faith that I am the sole arbiter of – it rather strongly argues for a community of faith to which I am accountable.

– Just because we call it “church” does not mean it bears any resemblance to Jesus’ intention for these gatherings. Paul spends a considerable portion of the New Testament correcting wrong-minded practices in church gatherings, and we should do the same.

Redefining Church

I know this is super-rambly, but that’s the name of the category. I think we all should be part of the church of Jesus, but only if we can redefine the word “church.” Here’s what I have so far. Church is:

1. The global collected masses of individual people who believe there is a God, Jesus IS God, and salvation is found only through Him and who work diligently to live like He taught us (note the belief and action components).
2. Any localized expression of that belief and mission involving two or more people.

This allows the church to be expressed in many ways. I am not advocating that all churches be bulldozed and the people told to go meet in their homes. That might be better, but I don’t think that’s what Jesus has in mind right now (maybe later). It also doesn’t mean that I feel called to help mega-churches, attractional churches, or 100 year old churches fix their programs and become more “missional.” Lots of people feel called to do that. I salute them.

I DO feel called to begin gathering people together to build authentic communities of faith centered around both believing AND doing the things Jesus taught. I DO think everyone who believes in Jesus’ message has to believe in connecting regularly with others who believe the same (you can’t read the Bible and conclude that at least SOME form of regular gathering was not intended). I also believe that there are lots of us who struggle with finding a community of faith to belong to, because there are so few that match what we read about in the Bible. I also believe there is no perfect, cookie-cutter approach that will fix this for everyone. I believe the local gathering is subjective and forms to fit the culture it incarnates itself into and the people that are a part of it.

Closing arguments…

Based on those beliefs, I have a few closing thoughts:

• Mere church attendance is not the mission of Jesus. Even church attendance and involvement with “ministries” of the church (many of which are centered around making the weekly service happen) doesn’t fit the bill. Jesus intends to interrupt and permanently alter the course of our lives. I want to be part of a church that believes in and practices divinely disrupted living.
   
• We all must find a way to participate in a community of faith. This does not mean we need a building or a budget or a lot of people. It DOES mean we need to gather, remember Jesus, talk about the Bible, and help each other figure out how to live like Him. Big or small, the point of our gatherings is not the “big show”, but equipping and shared spiritual experiences. We need pastors and teachers who can ask the right questions and facilitate learning and dialog. We need conversation and exploration. We need communion – both the bread and wine kind and the connection with each other kind (more on the basic elements of a community of faith in future posts).
• I don’t mean to imply with any of this that Jesus died for MY version of church expression. I am trying to say that we need to find the core principles He intended and work that out in our own context. Some would say that is impossible, since we can’t really expect to properly interpret what Jesus intended. Others would say this is what we are already doing with our supermall churches and stdium rallies. I find myself wedged between these two views.

A Cry for Help…

I don’t know where to begin with all this, so in the next post I am going to start laying out what I believe God asks of us – first individually, then corporately as churches. That might help solidify the principles I will base my interaction with the church on, and help me figure out what on earth to do next.

One thing I am sure of is that this kind of exploration is done best in community. I don’t know what to do. I am trying to find the way. The more I read of what Casper thought, the more powerless I felt to address his concerns. I think that may be the beginning we all need to start at – feeling utterly helpless and lost, as I do now. It makes us look for answers from a higher authority (which is what this is all about anyway). I have some experience, I read and read and read and research. But in the end I need someone to test my ideas with. Who better than random, anonymous Internet people 🙂 .

I will be trying to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church today. But I know He speaks to all of us if we just listen. So if you happen to read this, pray for insights and post any you have. I pledge to listen (and try not to be reactionary). Maybe we can figure it out together.