Weekly Church Errand
I want to start of this post by saying, I love my church. Some of my fondest memories were made on mission trips, talking, laughing, and crying together, or in 5th grade Sunday school over a plate of over-powdered donuts. My church has taught me the true meaning of the word fellowship.
But I believe that maybe we've come to love our churches a bit too much and for the wrong reasons. When we look at the building we see a grocery store of Christianity were we can go in, find what we need, check off our list, and satisfy our religious errand for the week. I fear that church has stopped being a tool because now we are using it as a crutch.
I feel kind of bad about the things that I did this week but when I go to church on Sunday, I'll just pray and ask God for forgiveness. I gave up my Sunday morning so He must know I love him.
I know God wants me to help the poor and less fortunate, so I give money to my church and they do that.
The Bible is confusing. Why bother reading it when I can just go to church and my pastor will explain to me what I need to be doing and what God has promised me?
Going to church, donating money, listening to the sermon... none of these things are bad. But too often we use them as a cop-out. I needn't read my Bible because... I prayed for this on Sunday so... I gave money and now I don't have to worry about doing...
The church can be a means by which we grow closer to God, but it is not a place in which we should be spoon-fed our faith. Do we really know what we believe anymore?
Did you know the term "trinity" is never mentioned in the Bible? I'm not claiming it doesn't exist; on the contrary, I believe that if you read the Bible you see evidence of that truth in many place. But how would we know that? What if it wasn't something like the trinity? How would we know if a truth we were taught in church was slightly skewed or mis-interpreted if we never compared it to the actual word of God?
Because the trinity is a small detail, perhaps, but there are bigger examples. More impactful examples. Less hypothetical examples. When people begin to accept the doctrine they are fed without taking the initiative to search out truth on there own, our faith can be twisted into horrifying events. Nothing in the Bible points us to kool-aid or gas chambers except with some serious blurring in between.
I don't know about you, but I think that if the infinite Creator of the universe wanted to know me so badly, that He was willing to suffer the pain of a torturous and shameful death that He might be able to have a relationship with me... I think that maybe just meeting him once a week at church might be a little rude. If I could speak to such a God at any time about anything, but I only go to Him when I need help, I might be led to question how much I truly love Him.
I believe God is present in the church. But no all-loving, passionate God would be content to a Sunday morning block in your schedule. I dare you to give Him more.
"So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding." -Hebrews 6:1
But I believe that maybe we've come to love our churches a bit too much and for the wrong reasons. When we look at the building we see a grocery store of Christianity were we can go in, find what we need, check off our list, and satisfy our religious errand for the week. I fear that church has stopped being a tool because now we are using it as a crutch.
I feel kind of bad about the things that I did this week but when I go to church on Sunday, I'll just pray and ask God for forgiveness. I gave up my Sunday morning so He must know I love him.
I know God wants me to help the poor and less fortunate, so I give money to my church and they do that.
The Bible is confusing. Why bother reading it when I can just go to church and my pastor will explain to me what I need to be doing and what God has promised me?
Going to church, donating money, listening to the sermon... none of these things are bad. But too often we use them as a cop-out. I needn't read my Bible because... I prayed for this on Sunday so... I gave money and now I don't have to worry about doing...
The church can be a means by which we grow closer to God, but it is not a place in which we should be spoon-fed our faith. Do we really know what we believe anymore?
Did you know the term "trinity" is never mentioned in the Bible? I'm not claiming it doesn't exist; on the contrary, I believe that if you read the Bible you see evidence of that truth in many place. But how would we know that? What if it wasn't something like the trinity? How would we know if a truth we were taught in church was slightly skewed or mis-interpreted if we never compared it to the actual word of God?
Because the trinity is a small detail, perhaps, but there are bigger examples. More impactful examples. Less hypothetical examples. When people begin to accept the doctrine they are fed without taking the initiative to search out truth on there own, our faith can be twisted into horrifying events. Nothing in the Bible points us to kool-aid or gas chambers except with some serious blurring in between.
I don't know about you, but I think that if the infinite Creator of the universe wanted to know me so badly, that He was willing to suffer the pain of a torturous and shameful death that He might be able to have a relationship with me... I think that maybe just meeting him once a week at church might be a little rude. If I could speak to such a God at any time about anything, but I only go to Him when I need help, I might be led to question how much I truly love Him.
I believe God is present in the church. But no all-loving, passionate God would be content to a Sunday morning block in your schedule. I dare you to give Him more.
"So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding." -Hebrews 6:1
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