Church: Feel Like Giving Up Church? - Part 2

Continuing from my last blog, this theme on being dissatisfied with church seemed to be a recurring thought to me. Not that I am complaining about the state that I am in or the church, e.g. of being too tied-up in activities or too much unfulfilled expectations or too shallow in relationships, etc.. I think the reason why I am thinking a lot lately about this is that I believe there are many people who are going through this feeling of "giving up church" being unnoticed by others and/or misunderstood by others.

Lawrence Crabb, an author and teacher, in his introduction to a book called: Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church , sums it up nicely:

"I'm now on the brink of giving up, not Christianity, but church. Not the true church, not the community of Jesus-followers who journey together toward God for his pleasure and for the sake of others, but the organization that has replaced the living body.

Too often, the whole church event feels like that, like a well-orchestrated event more than a throbbing-with-life community. The raw realism of the Bible is too often sugar-coated with cheerily optimistic promises that God wants you happily married, financially secure, and alive with a sense of adventure and romance. Whether it's a megachurch parading its A-team every Sunday before a packed house of struggling people who are helped to pretend things aren't so bad, or whether it's a single congregation of a hundred faithful members trying to believe that life can work better than it does, the problem is still the same: Too often the church is aiming its people toward self-fulfillment through God's blessings and away from the failure and pain that could bring people together as the community of the broken but loved and hopeful because of Jesus.

I once gave up Christianity as I knew it and discovered Christianity as the Spirit reveals it. I'm now giving up on church as I've experienced it and looking for church as the Spirit designed it."

What we need to be reminded constantly is to return to the first love, to the simple truth of the Gospel, i.e. the relationship with God and His people and those around them, and practise the essentials of developing our character, loving, serving and creating a community through the leading of the Holy Spirit and authenticating the Gospel.

If we are going through a tough time or is struggling with some weakness, wouldn't it be easier if we all stop pretending to be alright when we are not? Too often I think we miss the point when we think that "good" or "strong" Christians should not or could not be shown or appear to be discouraged, burnt-out or depressed. We all know that we do experience these things, and that is why we need to re-look at the original intent of the church. In sharing all these failure and pain as well together in the community, we could show how our amazing God will care for us and how we can remain loved and hopeful because of Jesus.