i don't want to go to church...
A few short weeks until your third birthday, Annabeth. I'm so late writing to you, but I didn't know what to write you this month. Plus, my days are so long and so quick that by the time I get you in bed, I'm ready for bed. We're a family of night owls, and so you're up until 9:30 or 10:00 most nights. We put you in your bed around 9:30, but you never go to sleep right away. Of course, it doesn't help that I have you on a late nap schedule. I have learned that you either get a night owl or an early bird, and I am very thankful God has given me children who seem to enjoy late nights and late mornings.
I don't want to steal too much thunder for my next post, which will be a look at this whole past year of your life. And so I'm not going to spend much time going over details of the last month. I'll save those for post I write in a few weeks. This last year of your life has been a year of change and growth and development. It's been an incredible year. A challenging year. A tiring year. But a good one. And so as I thought about what I wanted to share with you this month, church came to mind.
We spend a lot of time at church. In fact, you've probably spent more days of your life at church than not. Most of our week is spent driving across town to church, and we do it so regularly that I almost think I could drive with my eyes closed and make it to the parking lot without a hitch. I won't test that theory, but the path to church is well traveled by our car.
I grew up going to church twice on Sundays and once on Wednesdays. We didn't miss. The only acceptable reason for missing church was illness, and illnesses were far and few between. My senior prom included a school sponsored and parent operated Casino Night that ended at 2:00AM. You can guess who was at church bright and early the next morning with her hair still styled in a prom updo. It didn't matter what we had going on during the weekends. It didn't matter how late we stayed awake or what time we went to bed. We knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that we would be sitting in church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening. My parents did many wonderful things during my duration of living under their roof, and making sure I was in a Bible believing, truth teaching church was the one of the best things they did for me.
Your dad was raised in the same manner. Church was his home away from home. And so when we got married there was never a question of if we would attend church as a family. That was a non-negotiable. One of the thing I admired about your father was that he was an active and invested church member as a single man. Many people use the years of college and young adulthood to put church on the back burner and pursue the things of their own desires thinking that "one day" they'll start going again. But the reality is that the "one day" rarely comes and church is place that is visited a few times a year at best. A place that should feel like a home to the believer becomes very foreign.
I woke you up from your nap with the reminder that we would be leaving shortly for church.
"We've already been to church today. I don't want to go again," you said.
You had a point. We spend Wednesday mornings at BSF, which is hosted at our church home. And, you also attend a church based PDO, so you're basically at a church just about every day of the week.
"That was Bible Study, but tonight we have midweek," I replied.
"But I just want to stay home. I want to play. I don't want to go back to church," you responded.
That's not the first time you've said that to me. In fact, most Sunday mornings you don't want to go to church. You want to stay home and play and wear your jammies. I get it. I love being home, too. I love staying in my jammies and relaxing and doing whatever I feel like doing. You aren't alone in that thought. In fact, most of the world thinks the same thing about Sunday mornings, as is evidenced by the rapid decline of church attendance in America on Sundays. In fact, studies show that "regular" attendance is considered once every 6-8 weeks. And in the age of technology, meeting together for church has become less of a priority due to live streaming and podcasts. Don't get me wrong, those things are extremely beneficial. But God created and established the church to be a physical body. It is his design and his desire that we meet together as a body of believers to worship and fellowship and pray.
Our pastor always reminds us that we don't have to go to church on Sundays to be a Christian. And we don't have to go home each night to be married. But what does that tell you about priorities? About the nature of the relationship? Can you imagine what your dad's and my marriage would look like if he only came home one night every 6-8 weeks? We would still be married, but our marriage wouldn't be much of one. The same goes with church, Annabeth.
"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." - Hebrews 10:24-25
We don't go to church to get brownie points with God. We don't go to make ourselves feel better. Our entrance into Heaven isn't based on perfect church attendance. And, you aren't a Christian simply by attending church. In fact, there are plenty of people who attend church that are not committed followers of Christ. But if you are a follower of Christ, then church should be a regular part of your weekly rhythm. A place where we go to build one another up. To be filled. To worship collectively. The spirit of God is not contained by the church walls, but you better believe that the spirit of God will be found inside those church walls every Sunday when you show up with a desire to hear and a heart that wants to be changed.
Church can be tough. It is full of people. People who are all equally broken and sinful, some more open about it than others. Each church has its own weaknesses and strengths, and there will be issues and disagreements, no doubt. Someone might treat you poorly or say something rude that's hard to forget. There might be personality clashes or differing opinions that don't jive. You may get frustrated by the way things are done or even more so by they way they aren't done. But those aren't reasons to stay away from the church. After all, the church isn't a place for perfect people. It's a gathering place for the sinners who know they need to be saved. And if you ever start looking for excuses to not attend church, or coming up with reasons to justify your absence, then you need to have an honest talk with the Lord and examine your heart.
Church is a small glimpse of Heaven, Annabeth. A little picture of Heaven on earth. We can't fathom what Heaven will be like. Our greatest moments in this life hardly compare to what will come. And as we yearn and desire and hope for Heaven, so we should feel the same towards church. Because the two are a whole lot alike. The Bible tells us that Heaven will be filled with people from all nations and we'll worship God together for eternity. Church is like our dress rehearsal. A taste of what is to come, and so it only makes sense that we would take the opportunity to gather with fellow believers and worship the one true God during our days on this earth. After all, our faith does not call us to isolation but to unity. Few may choose the narrow path, but we don't walk it alone.
And so I don't know what your life has in store. I know that as long as you're living under our roof, you'll join us at church. But one day, the decision will be yours. And I pray that no matter how busy, how broken, how blessed, how poor, how wealthy, how desperate, or how full your life may be, that you'll always find yourself sitting in the presence of God among a community of believers. That you'll work out your faith with fear and trembling and that you will "extol the Lord with all your heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly." (Psalm 111:1)
I don't want to steal too much thunder for my next post, which will be a look at this whole past year of your life. And so I'm not going to spend much time going over details of the last month. I'll save those for post I write in a few weeks. This last year of your life has been a year of change and growth and development. It's been an incredible year. A challenging year. A tiring year. But a good one. And so as I thought about what I wanted to share with you this month, church came to mind.
We spend a lot of time at church. In fact, you've probably spent more days of your life at church than not. Most of our week is spent driving across town to church, and we do it so regularly that I almost think I could drive with my eyes closed and make it to the parking lot without a hitch. I won't test that theory, but the path to church is well traveled by our car.
I grew up going to church twice on Sundays and once on Wednesdays. We didn't miss. The only acceptable reason for missing church was illness, and illnesses were far and few between. My senior prom included a school sponsored and parent operated Casino Night that ended at 2:00AM. You can guess who was at church bright and early the next morning with her hair still styled in a prom updo. It didn't matter what we had going on during the weekends. It didn't matter how late we stayed awake or what time we went to bed. We knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that we would be sitting in church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening. My parents did many wonderful things during my duration of living under their roof, and making sure I was in a Bible believing, truth teaching church was the one of the best things they did for me.
Your dad was raised in the same manner. Church was his home away from home. And so when we got married there was never a question of if we would attend church as a family. That was a non-negotiable. One of the thing I admired about your father was that he was an active and invested church member as a single man. Many people use the years of college and young adulthood to put church on the back burner and pursue the things of their own desires thinking that "one day" they'll start going again. But the reality is that the "one day" rarely comes and church is place that is visited a few times a year at best. A place that should feel like a home to the believer becomes very foreign.
I woke you up from your nap with the reminder that we would be leaving shortly for church.
"We've already been to church today. I don't want to go again," you said.
You had a point. We spend Wednesday mornings at BSF, which is hosted at our church home. And, you also attend a church based PDO, so you're basically at a church just about every day of the week.
"That was Bible Study, but tonight we have midweek," I replied.
"But I just want to stay home. I want to play. I don't want to go back to church," you responded.
That's not the first time you've said that to me. In fact, most Sunday mornings you don't want to go to church. You want to stay home and play and wear your jammies. I get it. I love being home, too. I love staying in my jammies and relaxing and doing whatever I feel like doing. You aren't alone in that thought. In fact, most of the world thinks the same thing about Sunday mornings, as is evidenced by the rapid decline of church attendance in America on Sundays. In fact, studies show that "regular" attendance is considered once every 6-8 weeks. And in the age of technology, meeting together for church has become less of a priority due to live streaming and podcasts. Don't get me wrong, those things are extremely beneficial. But God created and established the church to be a physical body. It is his design and his desire that we meet together as a body of believers to worship and fellowship and pray.
Our pastor always reminds us that we don't have to go to church on Sundays to be a Christian. And we don't have to go home each night to be married. But what does that tell you about priorities? About the nature of the relationship? Can you imagine what your dad's and my marriage would look like if he only came home one night every 6-8 weeks? We would still be married, but our marriage wouldn't be much of one. The same goes with church, Annabeth.
"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." - Hebrews 10:24-25
We don't go to church to get brownie points with God. We don't go to make ourselves feel better. Our entrance into Heaven isn't based on perfect church attendance. And, you aren't a Christian simply by attending church. In fact, there are plenty of people who attend church that are not committed followers of Christ. But if you are a follower of Christ, then church should be a regular part of your weekly rhythm. A place where we go to build one another up. To be filled. To worship collectively. The spirit of God is not contained by the church walls, but you better believe that the spirit of God will be found inside those church walls every Sunday when you show up with a desire to hear and a heart that wants to be changed.
Church can be tough. It is full of people. People who are all equally broken and sinful, some more open about it than others. Each church has its own weaknesses and strengths, and there will be issues and disagreements, no doubt. Someone might treat you poorly or say something rude that's hard to forget. There might be personality clashes or differing opinions that don't jive. You may get frustrated by the way things are done or even more so by they way they aren't done. But those aren't reasons to stay away from the church. After all, the church isn't a place for perfect people. It's a gathering place for the sinners who know they need to be saved. And if you ever start looking for excuses to not attend church, or coming up with reasons to justify your absence, then you need to have an honest talk with the Lord and examine your heart.
Church is a small glimpse of Heaven, Annabeth. A little picture of Heaven on earth. We can't fathom what Heaven will be like. Our greatest moments in this life hardly compare to what will come. And as we yearn and desire and hope for Heaven, so we should feel the same towards church. Because the two are a whole lot alike. The Bible tells us that Heaven will be filled with people from all nations and we'll worship God together for eternity. Church is like our dress rehearsal. A taste of what is to come, and so it only makes sense that we would take the opportunity to gather with fellow believers and worship the one true God during our days on this earth. After all, our faith does not call us to isolation but to unity. Few may choose the narrow path, but we don't walk it alone.
And so I don't know what your life has in store. I know that as long as you're living under our roof, you'll join us at church. But one day, the decision will be yours. And I pray that no matter how busy, how broken, how blessed, how poor, how wealthy, how desperate, or how full your life may be, that you'll always find yourself sitting in the presence of God among a community of believers. That you'll work out your faith with fear and trembling and that you will "extol the Lord with all your heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly." (Psalm 111:1)
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