Doing Church

I’ve heard two different people in the last week say they aren’t able or aren’t willing to go in a church. People that I believe love God. People I know are loved by God. But they can’t step in a church. I don’t know if it’s because of hurt, or hypocrisy, or bad experience, or anger at God, or mistrust of organized religion, or what. But it’s bothered me. 

It’s bothered me because despite the times I’ve been hurt by the church, and I have, I always go back. Because it’s my refuge. There’s something about the organized community of faith that meets a need within me that nothing else does. 

That doesn’t mean I don’t experience God in other ways and in other places. Some of the times I have experienced him most strongly have been in the places where much of the traditional church at large would least expect God to be, and yet he was there and he made his presence known. 

But even with that outward experience of God, there’s still something about being a part of a church family that draws me, and that fulfills me, and so, because of that, I want that experience for everyone.

With all that in mind, I’ve been thinking about how that church experience can be brought to those who for whatever reason can’t or won’t be a part of church as I know it.

I asked my pastor about it and she gave me the right answer to the question, as she usually does. That it’s more about the relationship than the ritual. And I know it’s the right answer but it still left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction because it just didn’t feel like it was enough.

As I was thinking all these thoughts this morning, I was also thinking about some things I need to pick up at the store. Because I’m a woman and I’m really good at thinking about lots of different things all at the same time. Anywho, I was thinking about what I needed and wondering if I could pick them up at Sam’s or whether I needed to go to Target. And then I thought that if Mike went to Walmart, he could pick them up, because they would be likely to be cheaper there than at Target but I absolutely refuse to go to Walmart. I detest Walmart. I detest most things about it other than the fact that they carry Pioneer Woman dishes which seriously is the only thing that makes me go in there from time to time, but I digress.  The point is, I realized that lots of people love Walmart. And yet I can’t or won’t step into a Walmart except under very special circumstances. A lot like how some people feel about church.

For me, being a part of a church has been an important part of my life for most of my life. There have been times that I’ve stepped away. Some periods lasting longer than others. But I’ve always come back. To a different place, and a different pastor, and a different people. But I’ve always come back to find that church home. Because it meets a need in me nothing else does. 

But church isn’t for everyone any more than Walmart is. And as long as you’re getting your groceries from somewhere, what difference does it make where they come from? 

And yet I still want people to have a wonderful church experience. Because I know how life giving that experience can be. I want everyone to have an amazing pastor like I do, who loves God, and loves people. Because I know how life changing that can be. But what I most want is for people to experience the love of Jesus in a way that transforms who they are and how they love and how they experience the world around them. And it doesn’t matter if that happens on a Sunday morning in a church setting, or on a Saturday morning in a Pride parade, or on a Monday night with a group of strangers, sharing your heart and your journey of struggle and hope.

Because, like your groceries, you can get your spiritual fulfillment from anywhere. And it doesn’t really matter where it comes from, as long as you’re getting it.