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| image from Veritas website veritascolumbus.com/ |
This morning my heart is a little heavy. A full kind of heavy, not an achy one. I read this post about church, and it really resonated. Basically the post talked about why young people don't go to church or can't find the church they are looking for, and the stigma of being a church-going christian.
As I read through the comments, I felt like man, we ALL feel this way. The big difference is that I have found a great church (keep in mind that nothing in this world is perfect). My heart is heavy for those who feel like it does not exist, isn't in their community, or who are scared to go looking.
I agree with Kate, that "church," "jesus," "christian," all have a bad stigma. Too many people have messed it up. Too many people who believe nearly opposite things use the same labels.
I am saddened that the true gospel, which is for all, has been muddled by the details that don't matter as much.
Below is my response from the comments on her blog. It just felt right to clarify here what CHURCH means for our family, and hopefully break away from the general stigma. There is a lot more I could say, but since I was commenting I was trying to keep it short (I think I failed) and concise.
Feel free to add comments or contact me for discussion or questions.
"I agree with many of the points other commenters have made already, but as it became increasingly clear that I was in the minority, I am commenting too.
I am a married, 25 year old, mama of 2. We attend church and we LOVE our church. Our church is life giving, our church is community, our church truly takes care of others and we have been on the receiving end.
I have been in some pretty broken churches. Churches that had some messed up things happening until they basically disintegrated. It was hard to trust, hard to open up again. It is important to remember, as previously stated, that churches are made up of people, who are all broken and messed up, and sinners. That doesn't mean that all the bad should just be tolerated. When looking for a new church, we challenged the church. We met with the leadership and pastors and other members. We asked them questions about what they believed, what beliefs were considered firm (non-negotiable) for members and which were open to interpretation. We asked about structure and situations. It is good and OK to interview your church.
We chose our church because they solidly preach and live the gospel, more than policies or politics. I never realized how much this was lacking in previous churches until we started to attend where I currently attend. Our pastors do not think of a topic and then find supporting scripture. They preach series through scripture. They take it all in context. They use other passages to support. They read commentaries and get down to the truth of the gospel in every passage and every sermon.
The gospel that we are all broken, sinners. That Jesus paid the price for us. That through his grace, and grace alone, we find salvation.
All are accepted and loved. We are all in the same place. We are all in different avenues, needing a savior, and we are all undeserving. It is out of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us that we strive to live a life pleasing to him. However, once we accept Christ, we are looked at as though we are Christ in God's eyes.
There are times, I suppose, when loving correction is needed. It is not done publicly or shamefully.
At our church community abounds. Our church has "community groups." Other churches may call these cell groups, home groups, small groups, etc. They are smaller groups of people that meet together in homes once a week. We discuss the sermon, typically, but not always. We have parties and bbq's and hang out. We help each other move, babysit each others kids.
Community group is where we ask the hard questions. We question the sermon, the scripture, our belief. We are vulnerable and real and it is a very safe place. We have friends outside of community group, of course, but it is a space set aside for these things.
In September 2012, my then 4 month old son became extremely ill and nearly died. Twice. We spent 8 weeks in Children's hospital, and even now we are home with home care. My son still gets IVs, shots, tube feeds, physical therapy, and weekly doctors appointments. Our church and community group stepped in. We were brought meals almost every day for 3.5 months. People brought us groceries, cared for our older son, cleaned our house, prepared it for winter, bought us necessary supplies, and donated money. Without asking, my husband received at least 3 weeks salary paid by members of our community group.
I believe that the church you are all looking for exists! It is hard to find, but don't lose hope. I encourage you to keep looking and to challenge. I encourage you to talk to churches about what you want, because they do want to welcome you."
If you are in the Columbus, Ohio area, we attend Veritas Community Church, Tri-Village Campus. We are blessed to be able to be a part of a community that passionately pursues Jesus and serves Columbus. We don't feel that it is the only/best church in the city, but we highly recommend it! If you are not in Columbus, we can help you find similar churches, or you can hear our sermons online and learn more about our community.
