The other night at twentyfourseven, we watched a video where a guy challenged us on why we go to church.
What I mean is, he asked us… why do we come to church? Is it because We “have” to? Because it’s the “right” thing to do? So we can “feel better”? Or is it because we are striving to be followers of Christ and one of the ways we try to follow Him is by gathering in corporate worship of Him, and learning about Him and sharing in His Communion?
It’s a good question.
I think for most of us, it doesn’t have an easy answer, either.
I will admit… there are days that I come to church because I feel like I have to. I am on staff here and it would be weird if I didn’t show up. There are days when I feel like I “need” to because my spiritual gas tank is empty, and I need a fill-up.
In fact, if I am honest, there might be more of those days than there are days when I wake up and think “ALRIGHT! I GET TO GO WORSHIP CHRIST THIS MORNING AND EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD!!” (which is really kind of weird to think about, but we’ll save that for some other time…)
It is a new year.
I’ll bet many of you have made New Years Resolutions. I bet some of you have already blown them. Some of you are close to blowing them. When I thought about the kinds of things that I might resolve this year, I thought of the usual things… lose weight, get in shape, read my Bible more, etc… Then I really started thinking about it, and decided that “re” solutions weren’t the answer, but “The” Solution, which is Jesus Christ.
Let me give you an example.
Say you decided that you would resolve to not listen to music with questionable (or no-question-about-it) lyrics. I imagine that for a few days or weeks, it wouldn’t be so hard to find other things to listen to or whatever, but soon, you’d get bored with listening to the same old thing all the time, and would start going back to the old stuff. Maybe just a little at a time, until before you knew it, you were right back where you started.
It happens to a lot of people.
My thought is this. Instead of resolving to do a bunch of things that you think will make you a better person, resolve one thing. To get to know Christ like a best friend. Learn to talk to him. Learn to listen to him. Spend time with him.
When you do that, you’ll notice something. You’ll notice that you don’t really WANT to listen to music with disgusting lyrics anymore. You won’t want to watch harmful tv shows anymore. Because with Christ as your best friend, you’ll find out that its not up to YOU to “try harder” to become a better person. He will make you a better person. And the things that you think you’d miss, you’ll find that you don’t miss at all.
Its what makes Christianity different from some religions who teach that you have to give up all desires in order to reach some kind of spiritual perfection. Instead, you hang around with spiritual perfection and you find that your desires melt away, and your desire becomes to please Him… not yourself.
Then, (to tie this all together) I think you will discover that you ARE coming to church for the right reasons. Because you WANT to become more like Him. Because He is your best friend, and you DO want to worship Him for all the great things he has done.
~Porter
What I mean is, he asked us… why do we come to church? Is it because We “have” to? Because it’s the “right” thing to do? So we can “feel better”? Or is it because we are striving to be followers of Christ and one of the ways we try to follow Him is by gathering in corporate worship of Him, and learning about Him and sharing in His Communion?
It’s a good question.
I think for most of us, it doesn’t have an easy answer, either.
I will admit… there are days that I come to church because I feel like I have to. I am on staff here and it would be weird if I didn’t show up. There are days when I feel like I “need” to because my spiritual gas tank is empty, and I need a fill-up.
In fact, if I am honest, there might be more of those days than there are days when I wake up and think “ALRIGHT! I GET TO GO WORSHIP CHRIST THIS MORNING AND EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD!!” (which is really kind of weird to think about, but we’ll save that for some other time…)
It is a new year.
I’ll bet many of you have made New Years Resolutions. I bet some of you have already blown them. Some of you are close to blowing them. When I thought about the kinds of things that I might resolve this year, I thought of the usual things… lose weight, get in shape, read my Bible more, etc… Then I really started thinking about it, and decided that “re” solutions weren’t the answer, but “The” Solution, which is Jesus Christ.
Let me give you an example.
Say you decided that you would resolve to not listen to music with questionable (or no-question-about-it) lyrics. I imagine that for a few days or weeks, it wouldn’t be so hard to find other things to listen to or whatever, but soon, you’d get bored with listening to the same old thing all the time, and would start going back to the old stuff. Maybe just a little at a time, until before you knew it, you were right back where you started.
It happens to a lot of people.
My thought is this. Instead of resolving to do a bunch of things that you think will make you a better person, resolve one thing. To get to know Christ like a best friend. Learn to talk to him. Learn to listen to him. Spend time with him.
When you do that, you’ll notice something. You’ll notice that you don’t really WANT to listen to music with disgusting lyrics anymore. You won’t want to watch harmful tv shows anymore. Because with Christ as your best friend, you’ll find out that its not up to YOU to “try harder” to become a better person. He will make you a better person. And the things that you think you’d miss, you’ll find that you don’t miss at all.
Its what makes Christianity different from some religions who teach that you have to give up all desires in order to reach some kind of spiritual perfection. Instead, you hang around with spiritual perfection and you find that your desires melt away, and your desire becomes to please Him… not yourself.
Then, (to tie this all together) I think you will discover that you ARE coming to church for the right reasons. Because you WANT to become more like Him. Because He is your best friend, and you DO want to worship Him for all the great things he has done.
~Porter
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