Heavy, Deep & Real ministries

As some of you know, I was out of the church for 25 years before coming back. Having grown up in 12 different homes one of the things I saw was a lot of different Christian denominations. One home was Assembly of God. Another was Catholic. Another was Baptist. I attended a Four-Square youth group for a very short time. My bio dad was a Jew who left the faith altogether becoming an angry atheist. My mom baptized us as Lutherans.

What was crazy about it growing up was each denomination claimed the others were wrong! Pretty confusing for a young kid living in complete dysfunction and abuse. I didn’t really learn who the real Jesus is because each church seemed to have a different description of Him.

I became an emancipated minor and left the foster care system when I was 17 years old. Funny enough I joined a Jewish fraternity (AEPi) when I left for college at the University of Missouri. But as one of two Christians in the house, I still didn’t attend church or really even practice my faith at all other than talking with God most of the time.

Like most nominal Christians, I just lived my life. Went to college, got jobs, eventually married – the normal stuff. Church just wasn’t something I was interested in given my uneven experience with it growing up. Besides, Sundays were for the NFL!

That all changed when God called me to serve Him and for once I decided to listen.

After working at the Pentagon during the post-9/11 period, God called me back to Oregon and into the ministry. Man was THAT a tough transition! But one of the things He called me to do was go back to church. So, like most people looking for a church I started researching. What flavor church should I attend? I knew it wouldn’t be Catholic or Lutheran – liturgical churches. I’d had enough of that growing up! I didn’t want a liberal church like the Methodists or Episcopalians which compromise with the culture instead of following Biblical commands. I didn’t want a holy roller church so Pentecostal was out even though I love their energy but not so much their doctrine regarding tongues. Nazarenes seemed cool. Non-denominational was intriguing yet they were mostly mega churches which didn’t excite me.

Then I remembered that one church I went to when I was 13 years old stuck out – my dad and I were living with the Ashburn family in Palatine, Il who took us in when we were homeless. They were Baptist and their church seemed somewhat normal! I did youth group with them and the Ashburns were really good folks. So, Baptist it was!

The church my wife and I went to was not quite like the Baptists I remember! It was an American Baptist Church that was heavy into social gospel. That was an absolute no-go for me – WAY to lefty and unbiblical. Yet, the people there were some of the nicest folks I’d ever met. I really felt drawn to the place. The sanctuary felt like home. I prayed about it and God told me to stay. In fact, He told me to start a Bible study and bring Biblical teaching to the church! Yikes. I’m just getting back to church and God has me being a change agent!

And that’s what I did! I started a Bible study which I did for 10 years, sat on the church council, and brought Bible-based teaching into the church! In the meantime, the church imploded! The senior pastor and associate pastor had different visions and got into a schism which wrecked the place; both ended up leaving! The church went from about 350 people about 135. A new pastor came in – a solid orthodox guy – and the fight continued as he and I worked to turn the church from a social gospel liberal church to a Bible-based  Holy Spirit led church.

Honestly, it wasn’t what I signed up for. I just planned to go back to church, lead where God placed me and live happily ever after. But what I learned is that church is messy! People are fallen and selfish. Church is not a place for perfect people; it’s a place filled with people who REALLY need Jesus!! Me included!

I’m happy to say I’ve been at this church for 21 years now. For the past 15 or so we’ve been solid! We’ve not grown – we’re pretty much an older church – but the preaching is Biblical, the Bible studies are true to the Word, and those of us who attend want to live to glorify Jesus.

I know that a lot of my friends right now are where I used to be when it comes to attending a church. “Thanks, but no thanks! Been there done that and got the T-shirt.” Many people have had bad to horrible experiences with the people in church. They’ve been judged, seen hypocrisy, met really terrible people, and have not seen Jesus while attending. Believe me, I’m with you!

However, I’m going to make the argument that you should attend church anyway.

First, church isn’t about the people; it’s about worshiping God. We attend church to communally praise and worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. If you’re going to church for any other reason, you’ve got it wrong. Yes, there are other things we get out of church, but our goal is to have a communal experience with the Living God!! You should expect to have a personal experience with God every time you go to church! THAT is what church is about and if that is your focus you will LOVE church!

Second, being with a body of believers is vitally important. Scripture tells us plainly not to stop meeting like some people do (Hebrews 10:25). We are made for relationship and being around other believers encourages us, helps us stay accountable, provide relational safety nets of go-to people in our lives, and edifies us as we learn from each other. Oh, and we also get to serve one another which is really cool!

Third, we are to be continuously learning about God’s word (Joshua 1:8). We learn the Word and it’s application in church via sermons, Bible studies, small groups and more. Self-study is great IF you had the discipline to do it. But learning in these group settings is much richer and deeper. I found out that you miss a lot if you’re not adding this to your life.

Fourth, church is the place where you really get to practice your faith. Church is a difficult, messy place because it’s full of fallen sinful people. There’s a joke that says there is no perfect church because you are in it! The thing about putting a larger group of people together is not everyone sees eye to eye on nearly anything! There are so many different backgrounds, personalities, expectations, desires, and needs that people can’t even agree on what type of music to have more or less how to get along! But in this mess of humanity we get to practice our faith. We withhold judgment; we turn the other cheek; we bear with; we love the unlovable; we hold people accountable to the Word; we encourage each other; we humble ourselves; we forgive; we don’t take offense; we hold fast to the truth. Church is the only place other than marriage where we get to practice these and other commands of Jesus every time we meet!

Lastly, we learn to humble ourselves and serve others. Jesus told us that He came to serve and not be served (Matthew 20:28). Church is our logistical base of operations as we gear up to go into the world and be the hands and feet of Jesus! Look around your community and you will see that church and the various “para ministries” (ministries that our outside the church) are the ones rolling up their sleeves and doing the dirty work with the homeless, the addicts, the ex-cons, the mentally ill, and all the unlovable and marginalized people in the world. We bring them the Good News of hope and introduce them to Jesus who can transform their lives!  “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7).  Serving others is our highest calling! And church is the place we learn how to do it and from where we do it!

So, I’m a church guy now. I would have never believed that decades ago; I’d be one of those guys saying my faith is mine alone and I can worship God in the privacy of my own home, thank you! But not anymore. I understand the value of church even though church is filled with hypocrites, selfishness, pettiness, hard personalities, and people who are not like us. Church is a hospital for the sick and not a country club for the righteous! As Jesus said, He came for the sick (Luke 5:31).

It’s Sunday morning at 9:21 a.m. I’m heading out in nine minutes to go pick up a guy and we’ll be going to church! I’m ready to encounter the Living God as we sing praises to Him, pray to Him, hear a sermon about Him, and commune together as God’s people.

How about you? You going to church this morning or are you going to sit on your hands and miss out on the depths of love you can have in the midst of the human condition by going to church?