To Go Or Not To Go?
I had lunch with a twenty-something and thirty-something today. These two men happen to be two of my favorite people on planet earth. We had a great time together. Toward the end of our meal the conversation turned to church. During the conversation both agreed that attending church is unnecessary. One commented that Pope Francis made the statement: It is not necessary to go to church, and, for many nature can be a church. The other made the accurate observation that the early followers of Christ didn’t go to a church building to worship in the same way we do today. And I have to confess, I agree with him. And if you’re interested, you can listen to this guy who shares some of the same sentiments as the thirty-something who made that comment: If Jesus were the pastor of your church you probably wouldn’t go there
But what about that? What about the earliest Christians? If the earliest Christ followers didn’t do church the way we do today, why should we?
The Man Of God Who Did Not Attend Church
Before we look at the difference between how we do church today and how the earliest Christ followers did it, I’d like to acknowledge a biblical example of a man of God who did not attend church. That man was John the Baptist. Jesus certainly recognized him as a great man and it’s obvious he was used by God to accomplish great work for God’s kingdom. Yet it would seem that he didn’t attend services at God’s house of worship, which for him was the local synagogue. How can this be? We’ll revisit that just a little later in this post.
So What Did The Early Christ Followers Do Anyway?
I love the way the two men I had lunch with seek after knowledge. They both have a way of persistently looking for more accurate truth and better ways to live life. They often challenge me with their ideas and questions. And I often learn from them both. And you know what? What was said about the earliest Christ followers is true. The earliest Christ followers didn’t do church the way we do today. On average, church going Christians today attend church about once a month. They drive to a Christian church that is funded by church members. They usually sing praise songs or hymns for fifteen minutes or so. Then the pastor teaches for thirty to forty-five minutes. Then they drive home. A month or so later, they do it again. (PewResearch.org)
The earliest followers of Christ didn’t do it that way. The earliest followers of Christ didn’t meet in a Christian church. They met in the Jewish temple, there in Jerusalem. (Eventually they were thrown out. After that they met in public places or private homes.) And they didn’t meet every month. They met every day. “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” And then after the service they would have a meal together. (I just learned today that the orthodox church still practices this tradition.) “From house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God…” And it would appear that they gave more than we do today. “…all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.”
So the earliest followers of Christ, the earliest church members, didn’t do it the way we do today, it’s true. They did more. (Acts 2:42-47)
Science And Going To Church
From my perspective there’s science supporting an answer to the question of whether or not we should attend church. Jesus said there is a foremost commandment (something I never realized until a few months ago). What Jesus said specifically was this: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-39)
I recently heard some research on a podcast called Freakonomics. The host is an economic behaviorist who sometimes points out examples of a phenomena called social norming. If you’re interested you can check out the episode called Riding the Herd Mentality. (A further description of the podcast episode is: How peer pressure can push people to do the right thing.)
The whole deal with social norming is that each one of us believes with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind that “I am my own man (or woman). And while others may be susceptible to the influence of who they surround themselves with, I think for myself.”
But over and over again science says otherwise. I’ve heard it proven in research multiple times on the Freakonomics podcast, and by Arizona State University professor Dr. Robert Cialdini, and also in research cited by Malcolm Gladwell. The influence of those we’re surrounded by is consistently underestimated. But it turns out it’s one of the most powerful forces there is when it comes to what determines our thinking and behavior.
So, if you believe Jesus’ words, that the foremost commandment is to love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, then it makes sense to surround yourself with people who seek to love God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind. I believe John the Baptist was one who demonstrated love for God in the way Jesus describes without “going to church” as it were. But I think John the Baptist was an outlier. I know I can’t love God the way Jesus describes without the influence of Christ’s community. I think most everybody is the same. And I think many people know this intuitively and that’s why as soon as they have kids they decide they want to start attending church. They do it out of love for their son or daughter. Because they know their child will love God more deeply if they’re surrounded by people with a deep love of God. But what I’ve noticed is the children aren’t the only ones impacted. The parents’ love for Christ grows as well. A church filled with people who love God the way Jesus describes is almost inescapably influential.
But where can we find such a church? Because there are plenty of churches filled with people just going through the motions, lukewarm churches. And there are even churches filled with people worshipping something other than God. (Sadly, I just saw a video of a sermon encouraging people to come to church so they will gain money.) But the church that influences us to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind is the church filled with people who love God that way. So how do we find these lovers of God? Research. Ask around. Try different churches. Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t fear trial and error. Don’t stop until you find the people who love God with everything they have.
Do whatever you have to do to find that church.
And go there,
often.
That’s what the earliest followers of Christ did. That’s what it makes sense to do, even from a scientific perspective.
Go to church.
You might also like: The Angry Crowd, Freakonomics, and Doubt, and Love Like Jesus-Don’t Give Til It Hurts (and what that has to do with your inner circle)
NOTES:
Pope Francis’s Quote
From what I can gather, the quote attributed to Pope Francis isn’t real. A photo of the Pope accompanied by a statement that includes the words about not going to church has circulated around the web for awhile now. But like many other photos accompanied by quotes circulating around the web it’s false. (If you’re interested you can read more at Snopes and Wikiquotes.)
The full misattributed quote accompanying the image of Pope Francis that you may have seen on the web is below.
“It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional. Notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual but not religious. It is not necessary to go to church and give money — for many, nature can be a church. Some of the best people in history do not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in His name.”
Read more at Snopes and Wikiquotes.
You might also like this Love Like Jesus post about the Sabbath.
References:
HT to Anastasia Bennett for educating me on the tradition of meals after the church service in the Orthodox Church.
Image via Saint-Petersburg Orthodox – Creative Commons
Should I go to church?
Kurt, you are correct in saying that when Messiah was here there was no established church other than the synagogue, and the synagogue was where all Believers in Messiah met on the Sabbath, the seventh day. Even our Jewish Savior who spoke from Torah at the Bemah in the synagogue followed His Father’s commands to set aside that day of rest (forever) and get together with Believers. The Believers in Messiah were taught by Paul after Messiah died and he taught in the Synagogues on Sabbath or they met in homes for prayer and worship, and had “oneg” or the meal together.
This is happening today for multitudes of people worldwide because they want the truth directly from Scripture without the man-made rules and regulations of various degrees or denominations.
That is why our Savior, Yeshua/Jesus, rebuked the Pharisees/Sadducees–the religious leaders because they added to His Father’s Torah/Nomos/Law and they subtracted from it.
If we follow Paul as he followed Messiah, as Messiah followed His Father’s teachings through His prophet Moses from the beginning, and if we are filled with His Spirit and are endowed with wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discernment we will not participate in the various wacky things going on in the so-called churches today.
For many “church” is a scary place with its infiltration of contemplative prayer and monastic teachings, mysticism, etc. Ray Yungen declares that even Pope Francis has his connections with a Trappist Monk of the Abby of Gethsemani of Kentucky, Thomas Merton, who has influenced the Christian mystical movement more than any person of recent decades. I wonder why are Christians going back to Rome? There is a logical explanation, Pope Francis is calling them “home” to their pagan roots.
Our churches today by in large are still patterned after Rome with its pagan holidays which are an abomination to our Creator. My goodness, with the internet there is all manner of info for a Believer to discover the pagan roots of Christianity through Rome after Messiah and some of the Apostles died. Upon further investigation in the Bible, the title “Christian” came from King Agrippa and was a derogatory term. It is used only once in the New Testament/Covenant.
The early believers were called “The Way”. Messiah is “the” Way, the truth, and the life!
I appreciate the Christian author, Charles Crismier. His book, “Out of Egypt!” published in 1999 is an “Urgent Message to every Professing Christian” which encouraged me during my exodus from church. To be led by His Spirit is the most precious commodity for our faith, THE faith once delivered to the saints. Charles has a program called Viewpoint to this day. He formerly had a guest speaker William Hendricks, the author of Exit Interviews. Hendricks revealed at that time 52,000 people per week were leaving through the back door of American churches. He cited these reasons for the exiting:
* They do not believe they are being told the “gospel truth” by their pastors and leaders.
* They do not believe the church provides true Christian fellowship and community but is rather a “gospel country club” of Sunday back-slappers who couldn’t care less about one another after the noon hour on Sunday.
*They do not believe their individual giftedness and spiritual purpose on earth, as part of a body, is recognized beyond the cry for tithes and offerings.
Crismier writes:
“But when ‘we the people’ combine ourselves for common cause outside God’s absolute authority, then democracy becomes the ultimate expression of rebellion against God. Unfettered democracy becomes the incarnation of the spirit of the Antichrist.
As democracy now sweeps across our earth, embraced by ungodly yet religious people, it may smell like freedom. But it carries the shackles of ultimate bondage. It is ushering in the Antichrist. And American “Christians” are being swallowed by that spirit, totally oblivious to its eternal consequences.” (Pg 85)
Before us today we see the denominational leaders, the religious leaders of the world, as well as the leaders of the nations have been flocking to Pope Francis in Rome and bowing before him, and kissing his hand to include our current President. Israel has sold property to the Vatican. These leaders have put themselves in dire straits. Our Messiah is close to returning and it will not be a pretty scenario for those who have put themselves back under bondage.
If we truly love the LORD our God with all of our hearts, our mind, and our entire being, we need to follow Him and obey Him, in lieu of the religious leaders on the Roman road to disaster.