Why go to church...my take

Ok, a couple posts ago I asked the question "Why go to church?" No one responded, so maybe I should give you my take and you can respond to that.

Throughout the centuries, church, in its various forms, has served as a means of focusing our attention, at least for a brief while, on communing and experiencing God. And it's important to understand that church has not always been in the form that we experience it today. Remember, Christ said that "wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, I will be there." So, to me, the idea of church started with Adam and Eve.

Let's stop for just a second and allow our imaginations to flex a bit here. Can you imagine what it would have been like to walk and talk with God every day? To hear him speak of how he made you, that he enjoyed spending his time with you, and that he made all of this for you? How cool!

Now, let's move forward to the early Christian church. These were groups of believers that met in home churches and evangelized consistently which led to the widespread explosion of Christians in the first decades of after Christ's ascension. This model is still widely used in areas of religious persecution and is fairly effective.

Here in the States, I'm saddened to say that church has become more of a social club with a brief time spent in worship to God. My history in a denomination has shown me that there is an important social component to church, and for a lot of people, belonging to a church allows them an important social and spiritual support group, so don't get me wrong-that's important.

However, it's distressing to me to see people committed to a church, and not Jesus Christ. I've seen people shunned, disfellowshipped, and treated as garbage for not adhering to the strict policies of a church. And for those of us who come from denominationalism, how many times have you seen someone take heat for leaving the denomination? Especially a leader? What are we committed to, the church or to Christ? If the person is leaving in order to bring people to Christ in a more flexible and open environment, why do we judge them harshly?

People, we are not married to doctrine! Why can't we get over that? If someone leaves a particular denomination in order to reach the lost more effectively than they could within the confines of the structure of the denomination-praise God! They will likely reach people the denomination is missing! More souls won for the Kingdom! And leaving the denomination doesn't mean abandoning the belief system. Let's be honest-our structure is broken and needs revision to survive...but I think of the Pharisees in the days of Jesus. Their system was broken, too, and yet they would not fix it; it took Jesus coming to point out their shortcomings for people to see the truth of it all.

One of my favorite authors, John Eldredge, puts it this way, "Don't just stick with the old gang because it's the old gang. Your loyalty is not to a church or a movement, but to Jesus Christ." What this means is that we must be willing to follow Jesus Christ, even if it leads us away from what we've known all of our lives...and even if it runs contrary to what others believe we should do. In the Celtic tradition, the Holy Spirit is known as the "Wild Goose." Which is true-it's a tough thing to follow, but it's oh so rewarding.

What do you think?