Community?

Is the main purpose of the church to provide community? I doubt that anyone would say ‘Yes” to that question. If the reason we go to church is for the community, then I would posit, the church is not fulfilling its real job.

I recently heard a preacher make this statement during the sermon: “Some folks, if they are honest, would say that they come to church for the community, not the sermon not the liturgy… but because they like like the company of like-minded people…and that’s OK, that is a valid statement”

And so I ask you, “How any times have you heard a similar statement or perhaps even made it yourself?” It was probably followed by something like ‘It doesn't matter who the priest is’; 'I really don't care if they don't use......’; and a lot of others, all to be followed by ‘I go, because of the community, because of the people there’.

And of course there is nothing wrong with this statement. We all like to be with people who think like we do and have the same ethical values we do. That's what makes sports teams, bridge clubs, Cubs and Scouts, drama societies, and choirs, to name just a few, attractive to those who belong. Everybody there has the same interests as you.

However I would put it out there that if the main reason you are going to a church is for the community, then phone those people up and meet with them at the local coffee shop for an hour of conversation and relationship-building. [It is not necessary to keep buildings open and employ staff just to have a community!] You can then take the money that you would have left on the offering plate and give it to one of the many charities out there that are trying to relieve suffering in our world.

What is really being said here, to me, is that church needs to be about more than community. It needs to be a place where we get 'a glimpse of something bigger than ourselves' [to quote the sermon again]. It needs to be about worship, awe, mystery and wonder. It needs to both inspire and convict us, so that we become all that we are capable of becoming. It should be a place where we expect to be touched by the spirit, to have our lives changed, where we see that happening both in ourselves and in those around us. And that is why I go to church~
Why do you?

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