Come Back to Church

I meet these people almost daily. People who are churchless Christians. They continue to claim Christianity, they affirm that they still believe and that they still pray but they no longer participate in something that is very close to the heart of Jesus; church. Every person tells a different story; some were disappointed or hurt and walked away from the church. Or maybe they were so busy that they just stopped attending. Others gradually stopped participating because Sunday was their only day off. Some people claim that they can't find a good church or a group of people they can connect with. There are a myriad of excuses.

There are apparently a lot of churchless Christians. There may be more of them than of those who actually attend church! What is troubling to me is how they approach church as an option. Not only is it optional but apparently inconsequential; they will not be any worse off if they opt out. I had not realized how irrelevant and insignificant church participation was. Obviously Jesus missed the boat when the last great thing he left on this planet was his church which is called "the body of Christ;” the very presence of Jesus on the Earth.

Life is full of demanding responsibilities that requires us to show up no matter what state of mind we might be in. What if we took our attitude toward church and applied it to our workplace; would we still have a job? If we opted out of our job we would be called "welfare cases." If we opted out of our family responsibilities we would be called "deadbeat." If we opted out of our financial responsibilities we would be called "bankrupt." But when we opt out of church we continue to call ourselves Christians. Something doesn't seem right!

I know, I know, I've heard it all before. I've heard about the bad churches, I've heard about TV churches, I've heard about church politics, I've heard about how the church changed, I've heard about the hypocrites and how the church is only after your money. Somehow you've outgrown the church. Maybe you're even better than all those church people. I'm not really sure what you were expecting when Jesus filled up his church with a bunch of messy people that he called out of the rawest lifestyles and most sinful places. I'm sorry if you feel that you have outgrown the rest of us and can't put up with us anymore but I promise you that if you have patience with us, we will have patience with your shortcomings as well. Just don't abandon the church.

So here's my plea for you to come back to church. Your church or some church needs you. They are not as effective as they could be without you. Your church is on a mission to change this community for Jesus and it's harder when you're not on the journey with them. Your church needs you to buy in, hang in, get thick skin, serve, love, forgive and give. Your church needs you to be there every Sunday. Your pastor needs your encouragement. Your children need you to be in church. Your grandchildren need you to be in church. You need to be in church and you need a church that you can invite others to. That church will not be perfect, that church will have problems, that church will make mistakes, that church will sing songs you don't like and that church will need your money but that church will help you to grow.

Your church needs you to opt in, not opt out.