I would not want to be the poster child for rebelliousness.
While that may have been my ambition at some stage, it now no longer is. People
still tend to ask what my religious views are though and whether I still go to
church. It becomes hard to give a straight answer without first addressing the
conceptual hurdles before me.
To ask whether or not I attend church as a criterion for
judging one’s spiritual life is a fair but naïve yardstick. If anything, it is
indicative of the person’s spiritual understanding. Usually church is
contextually understood as a ‘place’ people of a common belief and shared
values gather. The church is contextually understood as a physical place of
gathering. This is a place one can pinpoint on their maps. It’s a location
where people gather. It can be a building or a large auditorium. Basically any
institutionalized location where people gather to engage in religious practice
on a regular basis is called ‘church’. So, when somebody asks me ‘Do you go to
church’, I already assume that that is their understanding of what church is- a
physical place that needs to be attended regularly. Language betrays because
there is no real blessing derived from the grandeur or aestheticism of a given
building of religious worship. No, On the contrary, the person who asks the
question begins to realize that church is church because of the congregational
activity that occurs and not the significance of a physical location.
Moving along, the question may be rephrased as: ‘Do you attend church?’ This is a better
question. Unlike ‘Do you go to church?’ which connotes a sense of it being a
mandatory thing to do, the second question acknowledges a level of
voluntariness in religious activity. One who phrases the question ‘Do you
attend church?’ shows a level of understanding different from ‘Do you go to
church?’. There is a shift from religious activity being something one
voluntary engages in. It is an acknowledgement that religious activity is not
necessarily tied to a physical place but rather congregating with people in
spiritual practice. It’s not the perfect phrase, but it is a more enlightened
question. It’s not just semantics. God does not dwell in buildings made with
man’s hands. If someone would ask me if I attended church, I can but only answer
‘sometimes’.
Sometimes?
Yes sometimes.
What does sometimes mean though?
Well, it means I do not beat myself up when I do not attend a
church service. It means I do not always attend one particular place if I do
decide to attend a church service. It means I am open to you inviting me to
your bible study, conference or church service. It means I reserve the right to
decline an invite if I receive one. It means my Sundays can pretty much go any
direction depending on how things are looking. Meaning I do not purposefully
seek to find myself in a church service every Sunday morning. But that does not
mean I do not reserve the right to be in a church service any given day or time
of the week. Yes sometimes means ‘not all the time’.
Why does this bother people? Well, it’s simple. People believe
that if you have a good relationship with God you will behave in a certain way
and one of those ways is regular, scheduled church meetings. At this stage they
will throw scriptures to justify how I am supposed to be in church services all
the time. I welcome those scriptures. I just take it a step further and
question if ‘churches’ today are fulfilling the same purpose the churches we
read of in the scriptures fulfilled.
Does this mean we should stay away from modern day church
services? Certainly not. One shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
It just really isn’t a one size fits all. Many factors influence whether or not
a church service is a ‘blessing’. The people you gather with, the music you
engage in and the information that is shared. These 3 factors can influence a
godly or ungodly experience: the people, the praise and worship, and the
doctrine. We do not all experience all 3
the same. Some gatherings are sharply different in all 3 characteristics when
put in contrast. Some people have a deficiency of one or the other in their
church services. With this in mind we ought to be more open minded as to why
one person isn’t particularly amped up for a religious service than you are.
While these dark years are not easy, I do thank the heavens
for them on a daily basis. I cannot put a price on the wealth of knowledge I
have and am still gaining through dissemination, experience or mere whispers
from the other world. I think just appreciating and having an eternal
perspective goes a long way. How we are becoming who we will be. How I cannot
love and want what’s best for the next person more than God does. How he makes
everything marvelous in His own time- whether or not the person is attending
church- with or without understanding.
#God #Religion
