Don't Go to Church!

My son is a junior higher at Santa Barbara Junior High and recently told me that he likes hanging with his History teacher after school before I pick him up. Aren't historians the best? Anyway, the two seem to have hit it off allowing their conversations to turn toward more personal matters - namely, religion and religious belief. One of these conversations revolved around the teacher's challenge that he didn't need to go to church because he could worship just fine on his own. In his mind, and I'm paraphrasing based on the remarks of my son, organized religion is a sham filled with tactics to exclude others on the one hand while attempting to pilfer people's pockets on the other. This is a standard critique and one that any pastor who chooses to dismiss it does so at his or her peril. Why go to Church? Indeed. I imagine that even the most faithful believer has asked himself or herself just that question at least once. Well, what follows is my answer. For the most part it is an answer for my son first and his teacher second. In part because I think that we as Christians need to answer such a question for our own theological maturity and stability. Moreover, my son cares about the answer. His teacher, on the other hand, while well-meaninged and a nice guy doesn't seem terribly invested. In other words, I'm not sure that his question is a real one (would he change if I answered his critique?) nor do I believe that he actually cares about the answer (does he actually "worship" by himself?). My answer will be brief because this is a blog site and not a theological tome, so extend grace where appropriate. First, the problem with the question is that it suffers from a faulty understanding of what "church" means? More than just a facile critique of definition, however, I was recently reminded that how we talk about things affects how we experience them. Eskimos, for example, have a number of different words for “snow”. Young Eskimos learn to experience snow differently from English speakers because of their verbal climate. Language, in other words, guides our experience and shapes our reality. Similarly,the teacher's understanding of church (one also shared by many Christians)is that church is a place or event. We often speak of “going to church” or ask, “What time does church begin?” Such phrases turn the church into a building in which services are held. God’s church, however, Charles E. Moore reminds us, “the ekklesia (Grk. for “church”, from ek-out, and kaleo – called), is a called-out, called-together, and called-forth community: a visible, organic reality distinct from its surrounding environ.” Simply put, the church is all y’all. I have witnessed some amazing things that have reminded me of this great theological truth – that God does not want us simply to “go to church” but actively to “be the church”. Second, I can't be who I am called to be by myself - otherwise I fall into the trap of self-delusion or selfishness. I need others to keep me accountable, to pull me out of myself, to recognize that my vision of God belongs to others outside of my own limited grasp and that God is simply not a God of my own making. In other words, the setting matters - it is conducive to thinking about God and occurs in a relationship of healing and community. If you are really sick should you go to the doctor? I think so, because it is a place and a setting created for that purpose. Can you do the same thing at home? Maybe, but you do so at your own peril. In the same way that you would go to a hospital for surgery to experience thoughtful care, by gathering with others (the ekklesia) you are committing yourself to the wisest chosen venue for spiritual wholeness. Third, the work that God calls us to involves others. We need each other, warts in all, to fulfill God's mandate of bringing justice to the world. I'm sure that my son's teacher would laugh at a football player, even a good one, who believes that he can do the work of the whole team. In the same way, the Apostle Paul tells us that the church community is a body in which all the parts are necessary. Can you imagine a finger telling the arm it doesn't need it? Or a stomach claiming it doesn't need a mouth? In the same way, we need each other to do the work that God calls us to. My answers are brief and therefore flawed but I hope that they create the necessary heat and light for my son as he continues on this journey with the God of "all y'all."