There are some things that a
person wishing to go to church for the first time must know. There are
requirements and regulations and accepted standards that everyone needs to
adhere to. God also has a list of things that He checks when someone goes into
a church building. I thought it might be helpful for you to
read the list to see if you qualify;
- Become a better person to ensure you will be accepted by God and others
- Learn how to pray and know The Lord’s Prayer by heart
- Make sure you are physically clean so that you don’t cause offense
- Know about the Bible and memorise some verses
- Buy smart clothing so that you fit in
- Get a baby-sitter so you can leave the kids at home
- Save some money so you can put it in the offering bag or contribute to the building fund
- Make a list of your sins so that when it’s time for confession you know what to say
- Learn how to smile cheerfully and to engage in small talk with strangers
- Listen to some worship music and remember some of the lyrics
Some of you are wondering where I’m
going with this. Others are reading anxiously through the list to see which of
my suggestions apply and what you personally should do. A few might be thinking
that this advice is sensible. One or two might have missed the point completely
and are annoyed that people could be misled. The vast majority, however, are smiling
to yourselves—you get it or at least you think you do….
A church, according to Wikipedia,
is a building used for public Christian worship. However, the Bible teaches us
that all Christians are part of the universal body of Christ which is the
church in a broader sense (Colossians 1 vs 18 and other verses.) Christians
gather together in buildings in their local area to worship God—these are what most
of us think of when we talk about churches.
The big question is, who do these
churches (or church buildings) belong to? Some may be partly or wholly
government owned, others may be owned by a group of people with a board of
trustees, still others may be privately owned and choose to operate independently.
Regardless, all of these
buildings are ultimately owned by God. He is the one who places authorities
over us and He also provides the finance for buildings to be bought and sold.
He owns all of our assets whether we acknowledge it or not. Church buildings
and other places that Christians gather for worship are a blessing from Him.
I have heard most of the list of
wrong views about church above from non-believers. A street teenager in the
Philippines thought that he couldn’t go to church because he didn’t know how to
pray. He also said that he was too dirty to go into a church building. Another
person said that they wanted to become a better person before they could go to
church. Someone else was worried about tithing and whether they would be forced
into confession. The others on my list have been mentioned in one form or
another in different cultures and in different church situations around the
world.
We may think the list is
ridiculous and the people that are thinking these things are ignorant. But
these are some of the things that
people are actually worrying about. To be clear, none of the above are things
that anyone should be concerned about or even thinking about when making
decisions about going to church. There are no requirements for attending church,
at least, there shouldn’t be.
As Christians, we bear the
responsibility for projecting the wrong image of our churches to the outside
world. We may misrepresent them by our behaviour outside the church, by the way
that we respond to a question about what church is like or by failing to
correct someone’s erroneous view. We may not want that person to know the truth
in case they actually come to our church and reveal who we really are to our
congregation. Maybe we think that they won’t fit in due to their ungodly
lifestyle. We have gradually formed rules about dress codes, cleanliness and
noisy children, amongst other things….
We like formality and we don’t
like disruptions or change. We are comfortable mingling with the same people
and following set routines week by week. Anything or anyone that disturbs this
is a nuisance. We may announce that we welcome all visitors, but is that
evidenced by our actions?
It is biblical for there to be
order in a worship service, after all we need to remember Who we are
worshipping. But what happens when our traditions, rules, regulations and
requirements that are cultural rather than biblical stop people coming to our
churches?
They are afraid that they may be
checked at the door, or worse gossiped about or alienated having made it over
the threshold. They fear that they won’t fit in due to the close knit Christian
clique of popular people or that they may be relegated to a seat somewhere far
away from the regular members. That they might be asked to move if they
accidentally sit in a deacon’s usual spot. They are anxious about the potential
superficiality of some of the conversations where numerous people ask them how
they are doing before walking off mid-sentence because someone more interesting
arrives.
They fear rejection, humiliation
and most of all they fear not being good enough. They are in like company in
one respect—none of us are good enough for God. That’s why Jesus had to die and
why there are no divine scales measuring good and bad deeds or places called
Purgatory. Our churches are full of sinful people if only we would acknowledge
it. That’s why we need a Saviour. But, instead of recognising that we have all
fallen short of God’s perfect standard, we add extra unnecessary burdens to
people. We make them feel that they have to be good enough for us before they can enter our churches.
Let’s try to remember that God
doesn’t show partiality and that we shouldn’t either (James 2 vs 9.) Let’s not
be like the religious leaders who outwardly followed all of the rules but
inwardly were corrupt. They were harshly rebuked not only for their own folly
but for taking others down with them. “But
woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of
heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who
would enter to go in.” Matthew 23 vs 13
Let’s debunk the myths and wrong
beliefs about church and ensure that we are not adding extra-biblical
procedures to our services. We can also take responsibility for our behaviour
as members of the body and ensure we always encourage unbelievers to come to
church and then genuinely welcome them when they turn up. This is not just the
responsibility of church leaders or the super-spiritual, but all of us as
representatives of Jesus.
It may have taken years of prayer
or numerous contacts from different people over the years to get a person to
actually take the first step and attend a meeting. This is especially true in
Western atheistic cultures where society has shunned Christianity and church as
a by-product. Let’s make the most of the opportunity to encourage, support and
share the Gospel with them rather than placing hurdles in their way. Let’s be
tolerant of things that might irritate or mess up our neatly arranged schedules—I
never thought I’d use the word “tolerant” in a positive capacity due to rampant
political correctness, but there it is!
God owns our churches and He
welcomes those who are sincerely seeking the truth. He promises that those who
seek Him with all their hearts will find Him. (Jeremiah 29 vs 13) Let Him be
found in our churches as we seek to love people and share the Good News about
Jesus with them.
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