Why church is worth the bother

With more and more to do on Sundays, with more and more options in terms of connecting with community, working for social change, and joyfully engaging with the wonders of creation, some wonder if church is worth the bother. (It is!) This article in "Relevant Magazine" online reflects on the reasons why church is worth it:

Is church worth it?
From Relevant Magazine online

The reasons why church is a frustrating experience are numerous. For many, church can be hard to stomach, and the reasons why are difficult, complex and not easy to answer. But no one said Christianity was easy, or that being part of the Church would be a breeze. Despite the fact that it can be enormously frustrating and maddeningly imperfect, the Church is what followers of Christ are called to be. The Church is described in Scripture as nothing less than the body of Christ on earth. It’s not a slight, optional activity. According to Scriptures like Romans 12:5 and Ephesians 3:6, it’s the one body with many members, each an important and crucial piece of the mission of Jesus Christ.

Why should twentysomethings not give up meeting together as the Church? The short answer is that the Bible says not to (Hebrews 10:25). But there are plenty of other practical arguments for the necessity—and ultimate privilege and thrill—of being a part of the Church.

Posted on March 30, 2011 7:30 AM | |
Comments (3)

Although there are no comments here (so far) this post is getting a number of comments on our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-episcopal-cafe/why-church-is-worth-the-bother/10150455870555290

Although comments aren't a sure indicator, but you get the sense, sometimes, that our Facebook audience and our audience nonFacebook audience have different, um, profiles.

Posted by John B. Chilton [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 30, 2011 12:41 PM

I think there's a dangerous conflation here between "going to church" and "being the church."

The danger is that this puts the onus on 20-somethings (or whoever) to "come to church"--even if it's tedious, boring, ineffective, rather than putting the onus on all of us to BE the church, serving the world outside of our walls. It means those inside can be comfortable knowing they have done their duty by doing church while we have missed our command to be church.

Laura Toepfer

Posted by LKT [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 30, 2011 1:13 PM

Although comments aren't a sure indicator, but you get the sense, sometimes, that our Facebook audience and our audience nonFacebook audience have different, um, profiles.

Um, some of us (still!) choose not to expose our "profiles" {cough} commodities {cough} to Mark Zuckerberg?

JC Fisher

Posted by tgflux [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 30, 2011 3:57 PM

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