Why Go to Church?
St. Andrew's Church
An Anglican Church • Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
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Why Go to Church?
Why Go To Church? I sat in my office with three students on my couch and one on the spare chair. I had been up this particular Sunday morning since 6:00 because I had so much to do before the service began. It was between the services now and I was going to be assisting with communion in the second service. I was teaching confirmation at noon and still had a few more things to plan before the evening youth group meeting. Just a few short hours ago I was warm in my bed, my hand still on the alarm clock where I punched the "quit that" button. I lay there and listened to the rain and thunder outside and knew a round of kickball that evening was out.
Now I sat in my office with my nose buried in a cup of Starbucks, trying to inhale every last bit of caffeine from the sides of the cup. My students are yammering and one of them said, "I don't need to come to church to be religious. I'm spiritual. I don't know why my parents make me come." She turned and looked at me and said, "Would you be here if you didn't HAVE to be here?"
I paused. It was a very deep pause. It went on for too long, and in that moment I spoke volumes to my students. Whatever I said after that wouldn't resonate as clearly as that moment of silent indecision on my part. I gave her a flippant answer and made a caffeine joke. She smiled, but she knew that at that particular moment the answer was probably, "No." I would much rather be at home in my warm bed with my arm around my spouse and listening to the rain outside. I'm sure even Jesus had days when he simply wanted to roll over and say, "Nah, I don't feel like it today."
So this article is for that girl in my office as much as it is for the youth workers who read it. This article is the answer I couldn't give at the time...
Yes, I would be in church even if I didn't HAVE to go. Here's why...
Changing The Question
"Would you be here if you didn't have to?" implies that we are here for what we get out of the church experience. Church is a community of believers. It shouldn't be about what I GET out of the service, but rather, what do I ADD to the service. What do I add with my presence, my voice, my "prayer-self"? When Peter talks about the first church in the book of Acts he talks about everyone having their needs met: People unselfishly giving to each other of themselves. If I am not in church I'm taking away what I can add to that mix.
Kinship
Jesus said he is present whenever two or three have gathered together in his name. Even though Jesus frequently went off to be by himself, he never lost sight of the importance of "gathering." This is the difference between eating a pan of Ramen Noodles over the sink and sitting around with your friends at Starbucks. Doesn't the conversation keep going long after the coffee is gone? Have you and your group ever been kicked out of Perkins because you're taking up the table for too long and people are waiting? You don't want to leave, do you? Church is like that. Church is gathering and sharing and becoming one with each other. Gathering as a group opens that door to being "one."
Putting The Focus Where It Belongs
It seems the bigger the church the bigger problem this is. When we are in church we often lose focus on the idea that we are not an audience. God is the audience. We cannot equate going to church with going to the movies. We are not there to be sung to, preached to, or prayed for. God is there to be sung to, prayed to, and praised. We as the congregation are every bit a part of the service as the band, the preacher, or the video clips on the giant screen. If we stop thinking that church is for us and what we get out of it, and start thinking of what we give to God, then the "what we get" comes back to us from God and not from the sound system.
Commonality
Many churches have a prayer called a "Collect" during the service. Your church may call it "Prayer of Invitation" or something close, but at its base it's a prayer that is a "COLLECT-ing" of all our prayers together and sending them to God. The key words here are "ALL OUR prayers." Yours. Mine. Ours. We have to put them together like one ball of different colored play-dough. When we gather, the walls we build up that separate us from each other during the week are slowly taken down. Gathering together allows you to come and be a part of my life and for me to be a part of yours. We are a part of her life and she is a part of his. It sounds a little like a Dr. Seuss rhyme, but church is the place where "WE become WE."
Contact
God is with us. God is here. In this moment, as I write these words and in the moment when you read them off the screen on your computer, God is here. God is not "out there" someplace far and away where He only comes to visit when it's Sunday. We do not have to "invoke" God's presence. God is here. Saint Patrick understood this: "Christ beside me. Christ beneath me. Christ above me. Christ to my left and my right. Christ in the ears of those who hear me. Christ in the…" It goes on and on, and is one of the most beautiful prayers ever written. God/Christ/Holy Spirit are in us and around us. If we do not feel that presence it is not God who has moved. We must learn to connect with God every day. Not just in our prayer time but in every moment. Sometimes those moments of connection are like a long warm hug. Sometimes they are like two cars at NASCAR, briefly colliding and then veering away (they call it trading paint). Church is a place of connection. We go to church because worship and music and prayer are connection places. Like a thousand cords plugged into the back of the world's largest entertainment system. If we remove even one, the picture is not as great and the sound is not as clear. We go to church to connect with our creator.
by Steven Case, Youth Specialties
