Tuesday, July 19, 2011
I can follow Jesus and not go to Church
I once heard from Tim Keller that 80% of American Christians believe that statement. 80%!! He goes on to point out that this idea is some fairy tale that was crafted to make us feel better about not having to be in community with other believers. Keller continues to explain the idea like this. You know that one friend of yours that reacts a certain way when you tell a joke? You know how you feel a little more comfortable around some of your friends than others? Maybe you have a few friends that you feel comfortable around but they are completely different and bring out different sides of you. This is how God created us. If you tried loving God on your own, you would fail. It is not possible. You must love God in community. Deep community. One that loves, encourages, confesses, suffers, gives, and lives together. Trying to love God on your own does not reveal the many sides of God that so many others posses. Here's the other deal. Going to church once a week does not constitute deep community. It constitutes going to church once a week. Church should be a result of what happens in community; outside the walls of the building (that's for another post). So, to say you can follow Jesus and not go to church, well maybe you can follow Jesus and not go to Church. But you're definitely not being the Church.
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Good thoughts. I admit, you had me with the title :-). I'm amazed at the people I meet who believe this...
ReplyDeleteI can say I've met a few myself and not been to impressed.
ReplyDeleteI listened to this Tim Keller sermon the other night from your Tweet about it. Great words. Thanks for sharing both that sermon and this post. Also (and this one applies to you too Luke) for bringing forth a unique side of me... muchly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteSome people really are just shirking responsibility, surely. But i think some people are also sick of "going to church" yet still being starved for community. That criticism doesn't alleviate our responsibilities, but i wonder if in some cases it isn't quite legitimate.
ReplyDelete--guy
Yeah... I agree with the comment above me. I guess I've never really been bothered by the statement "I can follow Jesus without going to church," because I know how spiritually dead some churches are, and how little some people learn/gain from time at church. Only recently have I found a true community... and it makes me wonder how I ever followed Jesus without it! Great post, Derek.
ReplyDeleteSo true Hallie. The same is true for me and I know for "reborn1995" as well. Even within the same church both of these are true. We find people just "going to church" and we find people in the same church in true community. Church cannot be had outside of true community we should call the church. It's sad that some people can find deeper community outside the church than they can within.
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