Stop "Going to Church"

I read an article this weekend written by Al Maxey titled "Being the Church" that got me to thinking about the vocabulary we use to describe things religious. While I don't always agree with Brother Maxey he does place things in front of you that force you to think. This is not a review of his article, just the result of the contemplation it spurred in my own mind.

Undoubtedly you have used or heard used the phrase, "going to Church" or its various forms. We know that when people use this terminology that they are most likely referring to the worship services. Growing up we always "went to Church." It wasn't until I went off to college at Lipscomb that I heard someone (a roommate) consistently identifying the worship for what it is. He was always going to worship or inquiring what time I wanted to get up to get ready to go worship.

I never have thought that getting the terminology correct was that important. My thought has always been that if the people with whom you are communicating understand you then there is no problem. For example, where I live, in Tennessee, if you invite someone to dinner then you have just set up a lunch date. The reason being is because it is common usage in our area to have breakfast, dinner, then supper. But if you ask someone unfamiliar with our regional terminology to go to dinner, they may assume you mean the evening meal. This thought has caused me to reconsider the language I will use when referencing the church and the worship of the church.

You may find yourself asking, "What is the big deal?" Well, it's not a "big" deal but it is a deal. It is not an issue of salvation but proper terminology certainly could give birth to fuller understanding and fuller understanding can lead to a stronger faith. Church is important. In fact, one cannot be saved and be outside the church. All the saved of the world, past and present, make up the church. Man has no say when it comes to the makeup of the church, the bible tells us that those who accept the gospel and are baptized are added to the church. (Acts 2:41) The church's worship of God is necessary but is only one action a Christian participates in as part of their walk with God.

When referencing the church their are several truths we can proclaim; we are the church, we can be a church, the church is made up of the saved, the church can "do" certain things but church is not something we "do," church is a living organism of which we are a part. Worship is one of those things that the church does, We (the church) worship God.

In the mind of many people, the church does not exist outside the confines of the four walls of a "church building." How sad! In actuality, the overwhelming majority of the works of the church takes place (or should) outside the confines of the building. Notice that I inserted the word "should," this is because some congregations (local churches) have either fallen into or purposely followed the way of the language we speak. These congregations indeed "go to church" twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday but when it comes to "being a church" their worship services are often the only evidence to which thay can point. When church becomes something we do instead of something we are, or when worship is the only practice we regularly take part in then we are in a pitiful condition.

Am I naive enough to think that our language is the sole cause of this attitude among us or that a change of terminology alone will miraculously solve the problem? Of course not, but there is validity to the saying, "as a man thinks, so is he." When we "go to church" then what we do when we get there becomes, for some, the very definition of church itself.

Let's stop "going to church" and start worshiping God. Let us stop playing church and start being church.