This question is of course skipping pre-foundational questions like: Is church necessary?; Is church biblical?; Why go to church?…. The question is presented to those that attend church and have something to say and ALSO those that DON’T attend church but would like to and have a “wish list” of things that would make them enjoy or attend church regularly.
I write this for feedback. I am not a regular church attendee anywhere. I also have the dilemna that the church I attend on Wednesday nights my wife has stated clearly she will NEVER attend again. I think everyone could list things concerning what they do not like about church, but let’s here some positives. And add some emotional validation to it if you could.
Tags: Christianity, Church, Drew
This reply is coming from someone (me) – who absolutely loves to go to church. I feel this way about practically any church I attend – and most days this would be a Roman Catholic church – but I also attend a Baptist church with some of my children, as well as a nondenominatinal Pentacostal church, as well as a Pentacostal church. I really started liking church when I realized that is was a practice run at worshipping our Lord with my brothers and sisters in Christ, preparing us for the day when everything about church will be perfect – and that will be because we will be perfect too – when we all get to heaven. Now I will admit that some pastors may give a better message than another, but if I am listening the Holy Spirit is almost always able to give me some nugget of wisdom for the journey. I think it is great to see all of the family – everyone so very unique – and yes – some easier to love than others – but if the Lord loves them, then I guess I better love them too. What is most interesting is that if I might not find them likeable at first, with the Lord’s help and His insight, I find them in the end absolutely loveable. It just takes time.
I do really like the Catholic church because we always read Scripture from the Old Testament, The Psalms, and the New Testament, and the grace one receives for the journey when receiving Our Precious Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, is food that one really needs and shouldn’t ever go without – truly the Bread of Life!!! I like when we celebrate the Mass that we are celebrating it with the Church triumphant already in Heaven – and I can almost picture all of the angels and saints there with us – and it is very exciting to think of all of us joining together to “Praise and Worship the Lord”.
When I started looking more at my own sins, failures, mistakes and shortcomings, and measuring them up with Jesus Christ as my plumb line – I found it much easier to love others, and celebrate the wonderful family of God that makes a “church”.
Blessings to you and may the Lord help you in finding a “church” that will bring much joy and peace to you in the New Year of 2010!!!
Interesting question…
As a human, probably a good bit carnal in some ways, living in a society driven by entertainment mediums, I find a good bit of liking a church involves it being an entertainment setting you can relate to (there I said it!) That is the setting, the music, the teaching, the preaching, the social structure, the look and the feel of the church.
Another aspect of what makes a good church (to me) is the teaching value…what do I get from it that will affect profoundly streams of thought or feeling or living that I have for now and throughout life.
Even bigger about what makes a church good are the opportunities it creates for sharing Christ with the world…and these come in a multitude of ways. These come from the outreach opportunities it presents OUTSIDE the church, from the serving opportunities it presents WITHIN the church, and (see previous answer) from the ways it equips or otherwise shapes you to reach out in the “real” world, on a daily basis.
Finally what makes a good church for me are the relationships I build. I dont have a close relationship with my pastor per se because there are a lot of people in his sphere and he’s just one man with so many hours in his day…but I do know I have *A* relationship with my pastor that is caring, loving and concerned.
Maybe even more importantly are the relationships I build out with people as I do the other things above…in fact approaching 95% of the non-family relationships I have that I consider close are/were built through church, either directly or indirectly. Certainly the closest of all of my relationships are centered upon people I interact with at church.
This arena of relationship is unique in that it gives a person a chance to practice out the things that are in their life with like-minded people that are (somewhat) sharing the same journey as you. It gives you an area to screw up, to clean up, to straighten up, to mess up, to look up and to fill up. If its a godo church and these are good relationships it gives you place to throw up your worst on people and to learn how to react when people do the same to you.
So church is place to throw up and be thrown up on gracefully. Wow…what a summary.
TY Chris.
I believe we were created for community, for fellowship. Thus, to me one of the fundamental purposes of the church is to provide a place for people to find relationships, with God and with each other.
I have been both a spectator and a participant in various churches. My experience is that as a spectator it is quite easy to pick out flaws and be critical. As a participant, I am invested and am a part of it. I personally find it much harder to be critical when I am helping to make it what it is. Therefore, the greatest church experiences I have had is when I dive in and help to create the culture and experience. I believe that is what it means to be a part of the body. Every part has a function and together it thrives. If a toe is separate from the body it has no life – connected it helps the body keep it’s balance.
No church is perfect, but where ever you find yourself, dig in, plant roots and help shape the culture. There is real joy/life in finding your place in the body.
Caveat – prayerfully consider the body you chose to join with – there are sick bodies that will only infect those that are a part of it with its disease.
TY Kyle.
Drew,
I think “good” is a combination of factors, including things like:
(not in any particular order)
1. Proximity to your place of residence
2. Sound and effective teaching of God’s Word and principles
3. Size of the congregation
4. Ease of ingress and egress in the parking lot
5. Quality/Style of the worship music
6. Opportunities for participating
7. The architecture of the building
8. The atmosphere (mood) created by the people who already attend
9. Availability & quality of Children (and adult) programs, resources, etc.
10. The reputation of the church (regarding not just morality but their reputation for getting involved in the lives of their members, their local community, and in global missions, etc)
11. on and on and on go the attributes of a good church.
The ‘problem’ is that these attributes all involve personal preference (side note – personal preference by definition implies self-centeredness). Some people like huge mega churches and some people like small, quaint country churches. Some like rock style, contemporary worship services while others prefer hymns or soft, a cappella style worship. I think these variables can be important in drawing in new unchurched people and keeping existing members. I think the members of the early church would laugh if they read my post though. I hate to admit it but I wonder how faithful I would be in my attendance to one of the first Christian churches…and I’m not even talking about underground and persecuted churches. (no air conditioning, no sound system, no bulletins, no childcare program, etc) I attend North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Based on my personal preferences I consider this to be quite nearly the “perfect” church. When I go down my mental checklist Northpoint offers 99% of what I want in a church.
But, since I am already a christian, I have to wonder if I should be looking for a church that is for me or a church that is for others. I’m not saying that Northpoint isn’t both…I’m just saying what originally attracted me to Northpoint was more about what would make me and my family happy then it was about reaching and helping others. Fortunately, as we look more and more outside of ourselves we are finding that Northpoint is great for both selfish and unselfish reasons.
I think the most important thing is that we choose one and then we try to stick with it unless there is a compelling reason to leave. My father-in-law has been attending (and participating) in the same church for most of his life. He helped pick out the land, saw it struggle through ups and downs for many years, and now is finally getting to see it thrive. If he was looking for a “good” church he would have left a long time ago. He wasn’t looking for a “good” church for his enjoyment though. He was looking to help God establish a good church for others. It is a great church now but he can tell you of more than one occasion where his church hit a rough spot and everyone ran to a “better” church except a faithful few.
Most of us leave a church for the smallest issue. Like Kyle said, for attendees “it is quite easy to pick out flaws and be critical. As a participant, I am invested and am a part of it. I personally find it much harder to be critical when I am helping to make it what it is.”
So, wherever we decide to go to church, it is up to us to become committed to making it “good”, not just good for us, but good for others, and honoring to God.
Blessings, BoB
PS – One last rambling thought. I was thinking, “what is it that I like best about my current church?” and I realized its primarily 3 things:
1. I feel comfortable bringing visitors. We have brought many family members there and non-Christian friends and neighbors and they all feel comfortable, welcome, and they always say how impressed they were with the environments, how much they enjoyed the music, and how relevant and practical the teaching was.
2. My kids like to go and they get upset if we miss Church. As a Dad, its wonderful to not have to bribe, force, or beg my children to attend church.
3. Its good for my soul. I feel like sometimes the weeks just drain the life our of me but after a Sunday morning at Northpoint I feel reconnected with God and refueled for another great week in Christ. I know that’s selfish…but it’s true.
PPS – This isn’t unique to my church but one of my secret favorite parts of attending church is I get to sit next to my wife and hold her hand for an hour. Sometimes that’s the highlight of my whole week. Pathetic, but also true.
TY Bob.