Church Attendance

Recently I received a rather extensive letter by email. With permission, I quote a portion of it:

“There are two matters on which I would like to hear your opinion. To begin with, about church attendance. I find it, as I believe a large part of Christians do, rather boring to attend a church service on Sundays. I get little out of the sermons. In addition, I struggle with the fact that people adhere to a form of Christianity in which the majority of humanity ends up forever in hell. It also seems like a kind of otherworldly bubble, which makes me feel more distant from non-believing colleagues and friends. There is often a subculture in church where people see themselves as a despised and persecuted minority. That doesn’t really build me up.

The idea that, if I were to become a member of a church, I would be confronted with all sorts of false doctrines and insincere people already makes me tired. The only reason to still join would be that God might possibly use me there, and that there are surely also people from whom you can learn. Also, it would put an end to all the nagging from believing family members, etc., who would like to see you as a church member.

Another typical church thing: it seems as if your spiritual life is measured by whether or not you go to church. As long as that’s the case, everything must be fine. The small groups still seem the most enjoyable to me, because you can talk openly with each other. I can also mention positive things about churches and church members in the area, but still I have the feeling that I’d be participating in a performance if I also became a regular churchgoer. Are you yourself a member of a church, and how do you view this?”

I regularly hear or receive stories like this by email. All of it is very recognizable. I dare say that virtually everyone who believes in the message concerning the Saviour of the world has problems with regular church attendance (Catholic, Reformed, Evangelical, etc.). I actually rarely hear anything else. On top of that, in the average church service, the Bible is hardly ever opened, and if it does happen on occasion, the preacher all too often turns out to be incapable of “correctly cutting” the Scriptures. Of course, there are exceptions, and I must be careful not to generalize too much, but by and large this is more or less the bleak picture. The only valid reason to remain in such a setting would be to spread your light as a ‘missionary’. But it’s anything but easy…

This past year, as a family, we’ve been attending EH in Rotterdam, and in terms of the message, it’s been a breath of fresh air! Well, the atmosphere is still rather “church-like” (in terms of hierarchy, liturgy, and so on), and not everyone will be fond of that. Everyone has to make their own choices in this. But what matters is that believers seek each other out around the Word. “If we may be walking in the light, we are having fellowship with one another…” (1 John 1:7).

There is nothing sadder than believers thinking they have to go through life on their own. Sitting in a corner with a little booklet. In doing so, they not only deprive themselves of much (edification, correction, encouragement, etc.) but others as well. As believers, we belong together (“one body”). And so we seek one another out—regardless of the setting. In the letters of the New Testament, we read that people usually gathered informally in homes. Why not? At the kitchen table or in an upper room. By the water or in a large auditorium. What does it matter? As long as we come together to rejoice in His Word and thereby experience fellowship with one another.

Thankfully, we don’t need an official church denomination for that. On the contrary!

Delen: