The Bungee Cord 2-17-20

Hello,

People have told me that they do not believe that you have to come to church to be a Christian, and you know what…..I agree with them. I strongly believe that it is not my doings or lack of doing that determines my place in Jesus’ heart. It is Jesus who has gathered me in his outstretched cross-nailed arms, and has stepped out of the Easter tomb to take my hand in newness of life that makes me a Christian. After all, “Christian” means “little Christ”, and so it is as the Bible says “not me who lives, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2)

So why go to church? Why spend a brief moment of time each week to gather with others who have likewise been claimed by Christ?

People have all sorts of reasons for not doing so, and I believe that some of them are good reasons. Some say that they don’t come to church because they don’t need people judging them and telling them to get their act together. Their act is quite together, they say. Others say that they don’t come to church because they don’t need people to tell them how to live their lives, especially when the people who are instructing them have lives as messed up as theirs. Some say that they don’t come to church because they don’t believe what the church teaches, either they don’t believe it at all or they don’t see the need to be specific in their belief.

If any of these reasons are keeping you or someone you know from coming to church, then I would say that their reasons are good. I say that because as I have come to know Jesus, I don’t believe that Jesus ever intended that people should come together to have their spiritual height measured, as if going to an amusement park and standing by one of those signs to see if you are all enough to ride. Think about Zaccheaus’ spiritual stature, and Jesus went to his house! I don’t believe that Jesus ever intended that people should come together to be treated like cookie dough and have a single shaped cookie cutter be pressed down. Think about the encounters that Jesus had with people who the world had cast out. I don’t believe that Jesus ever intended that people should come together only after they believed enough. Jesus talked about the power of faith the size of a mustard seed could work transformation in people.

So, if the church that you have gone to or have heard about is one that beats a drum of judgment, that imprints every life with one mold, or that is for people who “really” believe (of course, I don’t know when “really” really kicks in)…..than I think your decision to not go to church is perfectly valid. Because those things are not, in my mind, what Jesus intended to have happen when people got together in his name.

I am pretty sure….no confident….that Jesus intended that when people gathered around him they experienced divine forgiveness and mercy. Forgiveness and mercy so mighty that powerful peace would overwhelm them as they lived their lives. Confident that Jesus intended that when people gathered around him they would experience the embrace of God’s love that would shape their lives. Confident that Jesus intended that when people gathered around him that they would experience a lung-full of fresh air, giving them hope and strength for each day of life. 

So, if you happen upon a church that does its best to be what Jesus intended it to be and you don’t want to experience the peace of forgiveness, you don’t want to experience the love of God just the way you are, and you don’t want to breath in some fresh air…..well, if you don’t want any of these things….then I would say to you, don’t come to church.

But if you do want the things that Jesus intended to be the reason for people to get together in his name….. let me invite you to come.

Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger