it's hard to keep going to church

I have been a pastor for a long time.  One of the things I have found to be true as a follower of Jesus is this: those of us who choose to actively engage with Him together with others in a healthy local church have a much more enjoyable, productive, adventure-filled, "challenged-to-go-beyond our-comfort-zone" life than those who try to go it alone.  (*I don't have time to define "healthy" here, but can recommend a great book if you would like to go deeper.  It is "Life Together" by Bonhoeffer. Pay particular attention to Chapter 1 entitled "Community".)

And as a pastor, I have also found something else to be true: it is really hard to continue to be actively involved in a local church!  This has always been the case...ever since Jesus called 12 disciples together to form the first Church.  Why is it so? While there are many, many reasons, I will mention only two: 1. Wherever there are people, there will be conflict, and, 2. Wherever there are Christians, there will be people with unrealistic expectations placed upon other people...I would suggest greater expectations than they place on their work or school associates, and sometimes more than their own family members.

Can't we just interact with Jesus and the people we like and leave all those "difficult people" behind?  I don't think so.  Why?  I encourage you to delve deeply into the New Testament and notice the relational dynamics that were going on. Notice that Jesus chose not only a traitor, but two brothers who he gave the nickname "sons of thunder" (*btw, this was not a good thing!), recruited a tax collector who colluded with the Romans and a Zealot who was devoted to overthrowing the Romans.  (*He also chose someone who was quite impulsive to be one of His primary leaders...and even called him a "rock"!  What was Jesus thinking?!)  If you thought Jesus' church was one, big, happy, unified, "everyone thinks alike" family, think again.  It only gets more complex as time goes on.  Notice how often the Apostle Paul tells Christians to forgive, accept, bear with, love each other...and...to stop judging one another.

I read a good article last week by Tony Campolo that gives some good reasons for getting involved in a local church. 

I encourage you to check it out.  Here's the link: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/mayweb-only/118-22.0.html?start=1

In this article, Campolo quotes Augustine, a 4th century Church Father who was a Berber philosopher and theologian.  (*He has an interesting story...and if you have led a wild life, you may find his process for becoming a Christian quite encouraging. You can check it out on wikipedia, or, probably get a book at the library.)
Augustine is purported to have said, "The church is a whore, but she's my mother." (*This quote doesn't appear in any of his writings, but people attribute it to him.) When I first read the quote I almost fell out of my chair.  Then I liked it.  Then I wondered why I liked it.  Then I thought, "I hate to say it, but it is true."  Then, I started thinking about the Bible.  In both the Old and New Testaments, the people of God have acted like a prostitute in their relationships with God, with their fellow Christians, and with people in power outside the Church.  And, the Church has been like a mother - even with all their (*I guess the appropriate pronoun is "our") weaknesses - to bring people to faith in Christ and to nurture that relationship.

Why does God do it this way? Why doesn't He just deal directly with people so that we won't have to deal with all the imperfections of others?  Why can't we just live with Jesus and the people we get along with?  Maybe God knows better than we do about life, about personal growth, about changing the world...

Comments

[Heather Fosth]

Amen, Randy. Amen. Thanks for writing this.

[randy]

you're welcome, heather!

[Sean]

Great thoughts! Church/community/Life Together is really a messy thing. Especially when "getting to know you" is part of way God uses to heal us. I admit it is appealing to just have a storefront church where we don't know each other, but that church can't & isn't reaching the Bay.