This Sunday is National Back to Church Sunday. 

You need to be in church.

I thought about saying you ought to be in church.  That is true. But ought to seldom translates to will do.  After all, I ought to exercise more and eat better, but looking at today I’m thinking that will be a hard pass.

I considered saying you should try to be in church on Sunday.  That sounds very polite and welcoming.  But again, I know that I only try things that I want to try.  No matter how many times you invite me to eat that Cauliflower pizza, it just isn’t going to happen.

I thought about saying you are invited to come to church.  And you most definitely are.  But let’s be honest, we get invited to a lot of stuff we have no interest in actually going to.  Elementary piano recitals, Tupperware parties, and weddings of third cousin’s neighbors twice removed, where you at?

No, I meant what I said.  You need to be in church.

I’ll stick with that.

I don’t care who you are, the best place for you to be on Sunday is in church.

Now before you start rationalizing why that isn’t true (a nicer way of saying justifying why you shouldn’t have to), let me tell you, I understand all the reasons (again a more palatable way of saying excuses) why one might not agree.

Most of the folks reading this will probably self-identify as a Christian.  This is a conversation for us. So, if that is you, awesome read on!

Some may not yet have a relationship with Jesus.  If that is you, I still think church would be a great place for you on Sunday, so by all means read on, too.

Covid!

Oh no! Covid!

It’s going to get us if we come to church!

It may.

That might have been a bit unexpected, but it is true.  You can get Covid anywhere.  Lots of people are infected just doing life, being cautious, wearing a mask.  It happens.  I wish church was a bubble where it was 100% safe and zero chance of anyone having or sharing Covid.

It isn’t.  No place is. You still need to come to church.

Why?  Two reasons.  First, you are still going to other places where infection is just as likely or even more likely to be possible and you’re not thinking twice about it. We go out to eat in crowded restaurants around tables with our friends. We go to the beach, the mountains, go to Disney, vacation, and interact with people from all over. We shop in stores where almost nobody wears a mask and touch everything (yuck)!  We send our kids to schools (many that don’t require masks). High School and college football stadiums are filled with people right up next to each other and few wearing masks.  And we are all right in the middle of it all!  I’ve seen you there.  Are we seriously saying that those places are ok for us to be in the middle of, but church is somehow different?  I’m no medical doctor, but I am relatively certain that Covid doesn’t have a bias against religion.  It isn’t hanging out in the foyer in the corner waiting to ambush unsuspecting congregants to pounce on those who come to worship.  Can you get Covid at church? Yep.  AND in all those other places we seem to be comfortable going to.  Let’s at least be logically consistent and say that either all those places should be avoided or that Covid really isn’t the determining factor as to where we go.

What I have discovered is that people still go and do what they want to do, regardless of potential risk.  Covid is just an excuse many use to avoid doing what they don’t want to do.

Harsh? Maybe.

True? You betcha.

Second, we have never been called to safety, but to faithfulness.  This isn’t a spiritual litmus test, simply a reminder that gathering as the body of Christ has always been dangerous.  We’ve just grown up in an era where it wasn’t dangerous for us.  Throughout history, those gathering for worship have been in danger of persecution, physical abuse, potential death, and public humiliation.  Yet the church has still gathered.  This Sunday, the church will gather in some places where those attending could and some will be arrested, abused, and murdered.  AND they will still choose to gather.  That should at least put some perspective on how much comfort and safety we require for us to attend worship in a place where we are taking better precautions than most of the public sphere.

Socially distance.

Wear a mask if you choose.

Wash your hands.

Be wise.

But come to church.

There are those who due to health issues, shouldn’t come. Those with health concerns that need to stay out of ALL public places.  If that is you there is no shame in staying away.  Connect online, stay involved though off site.  We love you even as you can’t be physically with us.

But chances are, that isn’t most of us.

Church isn’t for me.

Some will stay away from church because they don’t see a legitimate reason it would benefit them.  There are all sorts of reasons they might feel that way.  Maybe they’ve had a bad experience with church or Christians before.  We don’t always shine unfortunately.  You’ve been hurt.  You came broken and rather than helping you heal, the church just added more guilt and pain.

I wish that didn’t happen.  I know it does though.  I’m sorry.  I’m sorry that it happens, and I’m sorry when I am a part of it. I really am.  We’re all broken, too.  Imperfect people trying to figure it out ourselves.  Don’t give up on us yet.  Don’t hold us up as the standard, hold us accountable when we fall short of it. Let’s work together as we all bring our brokenness to the table and let the Father restore and mend us.

Church is a place for you, whoever you are, for some great reasons.  In a society that is trying to pull us apart and divide us, church is a place where we can see that though we are different, the love of Christ unites us together.  We may have little in common, but Jesus is enough to bring us together.  In the same place we join hands (figuratively…ahhhh Covid!) with those different than us.  Different backgrounds, different resources, different ethnicities, different ages.  Different people.  All connected together with one thing in common, Jesus.  Finding a place where we are united together and not pulled apart is a rarity in this world, and we experience it every time we gather as the church.  It is a unique treasure.  You need that!

You need the encouragement that is found among friends in church.  We are beat down, discouraged, stressed and burdened all week long.  This life is hard!  Church provides a place filled with friends and family that build us up.  We need people who will put an arm around us and tell us its ok, give us shoulders to cry on, pats on the back in times of celebration, outstretched hands when we need to be lifted up.  Church provides that for you. And you need it.

You need church because you need the accountability it provides.  Flying solo is a dangerous thing.  When the only voice we hear is our own, our voice and God’s voice sounds uncomfortably similar.  We need others in our lives to help us journey down this road of faith.  We have to have people who will call us out when we stray from the true course and into the oncoming traffic of our own “wisdom.”  Paraphrasing what pastor Larry Osborne has said, sometimes we need a swift kick in the behind and those are really difficult to self-administer.  I need people like you to help me grow in faith. You need people like me, too.  We need each other.

You need the church because, if you are a Christian, you were designed to function as part of the body of Christ.  Not being connected to the church not only is injurious to you, but to the body as a whole.  You were specifically designed for a purpose within the church (see 1 Corinthians 12).  You are important within the church so that the church is able to function effectively as the body of Christ.  My car has 4 wheels.  If one of those wheels goes flat, the car can move, but it sure won’t do it efficiently!  I have two hands.  If they just decided to stop working, I could still eat, but boy would it be messy!  Every believer is important in the life of the church.  You will not be what you were designed to be, the church can not be what it is intended to be if you remove yourself from the body of Christ.  You need the church, and the church needs you.

None of that ultimately matters.

Here is the issue.  We think that we need reasons to come to church.  We need to be convinced that coming to church benefits us in some way.  And while it does bless us, that’s not the point.  We don’t come to church for us.  We come to church because of  Him.

While we may ask what we can get out of it, that has never been the reason for us to assemble together.  Having to be convinced of the need for a believer to come to church illustrates the height of arrogance.  We aren’t the object of worship at church, He is.  We gather not for us, we gather for the One who called us from darkness into the light. We assemble to give praise to the One who created the heavens and earth, breathed life into us.  We come to church because of the One who laid down His life so that we might live.  That is enough!  Even if received nothing in return, we still gather simply because of our love for Him.  It isn’t about the music, the format, the people, the pastor, the style.  It is about Jesus and He’s all the reason we need.

We gather because His Word tells us to.  Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to forsake meeting together.  Psalm 95:6 says, “Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”  Acts is filled with pictures of the early church assembled breaking bread, studying the word, fellowshipping, and praying together.  Throughout the scripture, God’s people, when in right relationship with Him, gathered to worship.

It comes down to obedience.  If you can come to church and don’t, it is disobedience because He has instructed you to be connected to the body of Christ.  You need to come to church because you need to be obedient to Christ and walk in fellowship with Him in the company of other believers.

It’s more than ought to.

It’s more than try to.

It’s more than you’re invited to.

You need to come to church.

If you have a church home. Whether you are always there, or it’s been a while, go to church Sunday.

If you don’t have a church home, there are some great ones around you, I’m sure.  Find one and go to church Sunday.

It’s National Back to Church Sunday, if ever there was a good time to come, it is then.

See you Sunday.