Hebrews 10:24,25 - “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

What are some of your struggles with the church? What are the things that you don’t like about it?

Your answer may depend on your definition of church.

There is the big C Church - the body of Christ, the believers in and lovers of Jesus. And there is the little c church - the local group of people that choose to meet regularly at an address to worship and serve and study and follow Jesus together. 

Let’s talk about the local church. These are the people that I know and see regularly. These are the folks that live close to me and I run into at Kroger. This is the group that has tried to organize a weekly gathering to get us all together to sing, eat, talk, learn, pray on Sunday morning.

Why can’t we do those things on our own, by ourselves? Why do I have to be together with others to do that? 

You don’t. You can (and I would argue should) do all those things on your own. But all of those things are WAY better together. Harmony fills out the song. Conversation enriches the meal. Listening to others lives and stories gives deeper insight to my own. 

And we have to be WITH people - physically - for that to happen.

That is a huge part of what keeps me coming back to my semi-reserved second-row pew in my local church. 

It’s like your big family - with all the weird and quirky relatives. We need to be together. Sometimes it’s fun (birthday celebrations, Christmas morning, beach house) and sometimes it isn’t (funerals, fights). We are all related because we have the same father and mother but we are all very different. We are family.

So when I hear friends talk about their frustrations with church I wonder if their expectations are too high, maybe even a little unrealistic. 

READ THE MOMENT

When you think about or talk about “church”, are you mostly smiling or frowning internally?

Where on a continuum is your feeling for and view of church currently?

REFLECT ON THE MOMENT

Let’s go back to the opening question. What are some of your struggles with the church? Your church. 

What are the things you don’t like?

Why do you think those things bug you or rub you the wrong way? 

RESPOND TO THE MOMENT

A dear friend and mentor of mine, Dick “Uncle Deek” Lane used to talk about our church being “the perfect church, until I joined”. He was making a great point. So I want to ask..

Where am I a part of the problem?

Where am I a part of the solution?