After one of the first talks I gave as a P2C-Students staff member, encouraging students to take their relationship with God seriously, I received this email from a student:
“I'm not going to a church, so it’s just me and my relationship with God while I'm here… But that's slowly been strengthening… Kind of on my own terms… Which works!!! And I'm working on making my relationship less about me and more about God…”
I almost tripped over myself as I read her email while walking down the street.
I was startled because after I had encouraged and exhorted students to take their relationship with God seriously, our well-meaning student had decided that taking her relationship with God seriously included not going to church. It was ironic.
She reasoned that since she could get the same things out of church outside of church, by having a personal relationship with God, there was no point in going to church.
With so many online sermons on demand, endless worship music playlists, and a Bible on my bookshelf that you can read for yourself, why should you really go to a physical church building, and stand and sit and sing and listen to a preacher?
Well, let me offer you some reasons why church is really important!
1. Church is not about satisfaction, but about sanctification
For millennials and Gen Z, satisfaction is really important. The music has to have a good vibe. The sermon must be authentic.
How did we get to the place where the preaching of God’s Word has become more about our emotional satisfaction than our habits and behaviours?
Listening to sermons and songs alone does not sanctify you. Sanctification - the process of being made holy - is not only about some inward attitude change. Sanctification is an inward attitude change that is translated into an embodied change.
“Do I feel peace?” needs to become, “Am I living at peace with people around me?”
Church, a gathering of Christian believers, is the physical location for these opportunities. It allows you to practise the many “one-another” commands that Christ commands: “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2), “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another” (James 5:16).
This working out of salvation in the beautiful mess of community is the place God has designed for your sanctification.
2. Church is not about individuals, but about the Body
As 1 Corinthians 12 makes clear, when you are baptized, you are not just baptized into Christ. You are baptized into his Body, the community of fellow Christians. A church community is a local extension of Christ’s Body.
“You are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27). This is why some churches’ baptism services include vows from the new believer and the community. To not be involved in a local church is to diminish being united with Christ and his Body.
This is also why God tells us that the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you” (1 Cor 12:21). To not be involved in a local church is to diminish the gifts and role that you are expected to play in Christ’s Body, and the gifts and role that other members have to play in your life.
3. Church is not about emotion, but about mission
Which brings us to the third point. As you continue to share your faith with those who do not yet know Jesus, does it not seem hypocritical to invite someone to receive Christ (to be united with Christ and his Body) when you yourself are not living in Christ’s Body?
Into what community are you going to invite your new-believer friend? How can you take the Great Commission seriously, “baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” if you aren’t involved in a local church that can baptize a new believer? Which brings us to a final point about church community.
4. Church is not about consumption, but about communion
What is communion? Think “common-union”. When God the Father brings you into life with him through the sacrificial death of Christ, you are united with him by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is “union.” When he saves you, he also saves you into life with his chosen people; a community in “common.” Communion is therefore our redemption out of sin by God and into common union with him and each other.
Salvation is both union with God and union with one another.
You therefore cannot enact or receive communion by yourself.
At one level this means you are saved for interdependent Christian relationships. At another level this means reality is enacted each time we participate in the Communion service. Just as in how you don’t save yourself, you cannot give yourself the bread and the wine or juice to remember the death of Christ. Neither can you receive it from a computer screen.
A real person, aside from yourself, gives these elements to you and those with whom you share in a church community. You receive it as a proclamation of your salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. When you neglect church attendance, you are neglecting Christ’s command to “do this in remembrance of me” as a community proclamation of Christ’s death until he returns (1 Cor 11:23-26).
In light of all these things, here are some tips in finding a good and healthy church community in which you can immerse yourself. They are all equally important.
Look for a church that:
Worships Jesus Christ, preaches the gospel, and practises communion and baptism.
Encourages service. The church offers opportunities for you to serve and practise Christ-like behaviour and pursue sanctification. This is not about glamorous or spotlight opportunities, but about opportunities for you to serve in either children’s ministry, small groups, compassion ministries, hospitality, prayer, outreach, etc.
Encourages mission. The church encourages you to bring your non-Christian friends and to share the gospel with them. As a larger community they are concerned with, in word and deed, those who do not know Jesus.
Encourages community. The church takes relationships, accountability and one-anothering seriously. There are opportunities for you to be involved in smaller groups and to develop Christ-centred relationships with people of all ages. A healthy Christ-like community loves, values and encourages members of all ages to love and serve one another.
You’ll notice that I didn’t mention anything about preaching styles, music, venues, size or denomination. I think you know why; these things are not foundational. Check out this blog if you're looking for further suggestions on finding a local church this year.
Your next steps:
Pick somewhere to attend this weekend and show up. Connect with the pastor or staff to let them know that you’re new and want to get involved. Ask about joining a small group. You’ll be surprised at how many pastors want to invest in university/college-aged people.
Try out a church. It is okay to visit a few churches when first looking, but no church is perfect except in the New Heavens and the New Earth. Look for the ingredients I recommended and settle into one place. Consider attending for a minimum of four weeks in a row before making a decision to stay or go. If you think that the church has the right intentions and vision but just lacks manpower, ask yourself how you can contribute your gifts and strengths.
Settle in. Show up this Sunday. Bring your Bible, and something to take notes and engage in the message. Inquire about joining a small group for the summer and be persistent to make it happen. Try to connect with older members to grab a coffee with them, and get to know people in the church, since the church community is about the people in it!
