Comments on: Stop Going To Church

By: Hunter

Hunter — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:28:59 +0000

I agree with the sentiment but some of the observations seem to be a bit overstated. First, the church is not a man made establishment. the church was and is established by, in and through Jesus Christ. “Upon this rock ‘I’ will build my church. . . ”
Secondly, the church you belong to does define your as a Christian. Even according to your argument if you really are ‘being’ the church it is the genuine service, instruction, and worship that you share corporately with your local body that does define, shape and grow you as a member of the universal body of Christ. It is impossible to separate the two. If you ‘truly’ belong to one you must belong to the other.
I do agree that, for many, church has become an event instead of the living, breathing spiritual organism that it is supposed to be, but I would not go so far as to say that it is reflected in asking a professing Christian ‘what church they go to’ In fact if they don’t attend a church mabye you could invite them to your church that is hopefully being the church and not just doing church.
A church is more than just believers getting together and fellowshipping. A Church must be reaching out, spreading the gospel, instructing in the word, discipling, and have elders and deacons (ordained or not) and be able to biblically discipline one another in love.
So, there is a lot that must be considered even as we are ‘being’ Church. I agree that we have lost our way when we value the building and things more than we value ministry and our comfort more than souls, but I am comforted in knowing that God is working things out even in the midst of this mess.
I pray he raises up more who think as we do and that we, in humility and love, condemn our misguided brothers and sisters in Christ, but be witnesses to them of the truth He has shown us, for truly it is only by His grace that we are not just ‘doing’ church.

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Praises to Pals! | gotahero.com — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:15:41 +0000

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By: Sparkly Diva

Sparkly Diva — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:41:59 +0000

I agree about asking “what church” they belong to. A tree is known and recognized by its fruit. And loving people “inside” the church and “outside” are two different tactics. What works in a “church culture” will not work with “the world.” I think at times, the world hold Christians to a higher standard, than people in the church.

By: Dee Stewart

Dee Stewart — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:43:47 +0000

Amen. Love this post. Added it to my top picks of the writing project.

By: Virtually Paul » Rejected by Hannah

Virtually Paul » Rejected by Hannah — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:17:20 +0000

[...] you’ve been reading Geoff’s blog lately, you’ll probably have seen this post which he quite cleverly used to get a bunch of Christians to read his blog through a sensationalist [...]

By: Jermayn

Jermayn — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:01:09 +0000

You realise now that people will use this post as an excuse for not going to church

By: Group Writing Project Top 12 - Day 1 | BlogSavvy.net

Group Writing Project Top 12 - Day 1 | BlogSavvy.net — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:49:24 +0000

[...] Stop Going To Church by Geoff [...]

By: geoff

geoff — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:19:09 +0000

Steph, I’m not so sure that I’m in the same place as you’ve just described. I’m not suggesting rejecting the exclusivity of Jesus’ claims – I’m just suggesting that we reject a bunch of the stuff that we’ve packaged into Christianity that have nothing to do with it. I’m not even saying that we shouldn’t attend church services – but if that’s the extent of your Christianity, then it’s a joke.

By: Steph

Steph — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:24:23 +0000

I concur, excellent title and post! Good luck on the ProBlogger contest.

Your message is crystal clear to me and I whole-heartedly agree. Although some people need church or religion to worship the Divine in the world, I embrace the essence of all religions: spirituality.

It stands for all the good in life: love, respect, compassion, forgiveness, joy, ecstasy, satisfaction, bliss, enlightenment, etc. It’s the positive side of the wide range of human emotions.

I’m not saying that negative emotions are evil or don’t have a place in the human experience, just that they make life SO much easier.

By: Ava Semerau

Ava Semerau — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:35:32 +0000

Brilliant message - thanks for getting it out there. As James wrote - Do what it says (James 1:22) Ava Semerau

By: geoff

geoff — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:06:26 +0000

FLG, Jim and Ashok – thanks for dropping by and commenting. Hope you find something here worth sticking around for.

Ashok, I understand and whole-heartedly agree that this is not a simple request. But because community is hard, we’ve decided that it’s easier just to settle into building a religious establishment, rather than the dynamic, passionate, mission-focused community that Jesus came to bring about. If “A lot of people only relate to their churches via the Sunday service” – then we need to do something, because we’ve just bought into the consumerist worldview that makes a church little more than a supplier of religious services.

And I have no interest at all in helping to build that kind of church.

By: ashok

ashok — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:52:11 +0000

Came in via problogger. Some solid points, but I would like you to address how difficult what you’re asking for is. A lot of people only relate to their churches via the Sunday service – whether the sermon was too long, whether prayers were conducted rightly or not.

And I know you can discuss at length times when one can be entirely alienated from a church community. It’s happened to all of us; community isn’t an easy thing, it depends a lot on things going well as well as the virtues we bring to the table.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but my own experience working with communities has been that it takes a lot of time to build them, and preaching at them as opposed to for them is all too easy.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:09:02 +0000

Hey – I found you via ProBlogger!

Very very well put! Exactly right. I feel like I need to add something, but I’m not sure what I could add!

When did we start measuring personal spirituality by our “church’s” programs? Or by how many minutes our “devotional time” is?

By: FLG

FLG — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:05:31 +0000

Came to this post through problogger. Fantastic post title. Really captured my attention. And the post was quite thought-provoking as well.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:38:54 +0000

I’ve been thinking very similar thoughts for the last couple of days. You seem to have expressed them from a different starting point, in a different way to how I would have… and arrived at exactly the same conclusion that I did.

This, I like.