Reflections from The Hill – Back to Church Sunday

When it comes to Back-to-Church Sunday, I must admit that I’m puzzled: why would anyone want to go away from church in the first place to allow them to come back?

People obviously leave in great numbers, so I’m not putting my head in the sand. An analysis of declining congregations (a phenomena of Western Christianity, I’m told) would reveal a huge array of reasons.

I’m also conscious that there are countless who have never taken up the option of finding out, or have never been able to do so because they live in deepest, darkest, Africa or some such inaccessible place.

The numbers of actual atheists is, I suspect, relatively small by comparison to the six billion or so (and counting) who live on this fantastic blue planet. I am not going to argue their case.

My task today is to try to come to grips with the reasons why people actually come to church and stay.

Make no mistake; for anyone who understands church and what it’s really all about, going to church can be the most fulfilling, inspiring thing they do in a long day’s march.

The source for Reflections this week is the Acts of the Apostles, particularly chapter 2. It’s called ‘Acts’ because it’s a story of what the early Christians did. There we find a six sentence snapshot of what early church life was like.

Looking at this picture, we can see five reasons why the church started in the first place. This may give us some clues about why we are, or want to be, part of it.

If the first question in life concerns one’s identity (“Who am I?”), the next one has to do with place, or community (“Who am I connected to?”).

Jesus built on a fantastic tradition of familial connections to give his followers a sense of community, belonging and togetherness at a level that they, hitherto, could not find anywhere else in the world.

This is so at odds to the world of TV soaps and the like that it’s puerile to even compare them with what Jesus was on about. The fact that many hang off every word in ‘Packed to the Rafters’ or ‘Cheers’ is simply indicative of the long and deep-felt hunger people have for fellowship, community and family.

I read somewhere that beer commercials don’t sell beer; they sell fellowship, even the one where the guy wets his duds in the men’s room. People long to be connected. The church gives us such a place.

That’s not all, for belonging to a church gives us, next, a chance to express that connectedness: we are connected to the One who made us and that creates an opportunity for us to express that relationship every hour of every day of our life.

This is called ‘worship’, a phenomena that is much more than the few reedy hymns and the sermon delivered through an inadequate sound system will do any Sunday morning, except perhaps in your church.

Worship is a way of life; and, if we let ourselves get immersed in worship, no matter what style we might prefer, we will feel God’s presence there, and it will stay with us.

The third element about church is finding out about The Man/God Himself, Jesus. Honestly, the level of ignorance on this subject – even among Christians, let alone those outside – is appalling. The Church ought to be the place where the right information can be found.

When we come to church and hear the Word of God being preached, it teaches us what it really means to be like Jesus; it challenges us to follow in his steps; and equips us grow to spiritual maturity.

While some of those early followers were out healing the sick, blind and crippled, other were helping the poor and looking out for one another. This points us to fourth great reason why the church exists and why we should be a part of it.

Despite the huge pressure to consume the world’s goods and its materials, it’s important to know that God designed us to make a difference with our life. He put us on earth to make a contribution, not just to consume resources and take up space.

There are many books that offer advice on how to get the most out of life, but that’s not why God made us. We weren’t made to get but to give. We’ve been created to add to life on earth. God wants us to give something back.

If we’re already in a church and we’re not involved in a work of service, what excuses are we using? Here’s a few that have been tried before: Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Gideon was poor, David had an affair and all kinds of family trouble, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was a depressive, Naomi was a widow, the Samaritan woman had five failed marriages, Thomas had doubts, and Timothy was timid. Need I go on?

There is one more pearl to come and that’s the pearl of “What next?” If we are in a place and doing worship and maturing as a Christian and exercising some ministry, then the last reason for coming to church is to do what we’ve been talking about this week: inviting others to come to church.

Being invited by someone else is still the biggest reason for people being in church today. In Acts, the church grew from 120 to 3000 in one day. By Acts 4, that number had risen to 5000 and, by Acts 6 there were too many to count because they knew they had a mission and they set out to get it done.

How do we ‘get it done?’ The easiest thing to do is to invite someone to church and to let them hear the message themselves That’s as good a reason for Back To Church Sunday as I can find.