A friend of mine posted a good, thought-provoking photo on his Facebook page a little while ago. It is in Russian, but I will post it and explain what it says.
On the left, one person is going to the door saying "To God." On the right, a multitude are going to the door saying "To Church" or "To the Church." (You can see the original photo and a small snippet at this link) The devotional essentially says this: "God is near us, and He had heard us [our prayers, etc.]; we must open the correct door in order to truly get to the Divine. But will we open the correct door?"
I agree with this article to a large extent. However, I must first qualify my response to it. I do believe that the Church ("big 'C'") is vitally important. It is, after all, the Body of Christ and those within it have been added to Christ, apart from Whom no one can be saved. Those in the Church are Christians, and those outside of the Church are not Christians. See Acts 2:37-41, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Colossians 1:18, and Ephesians 4:1-16 for Biblical evidence of these ideas. And for people inside the Church, we are still expected to live Godly lives, worship God in spirit and in truth, be there for each other, help others come to know Christ, etc. You know, those "Church activities." ;)
However, one can "go to church" (note the "small 'c'") and forget God. It can be easy for us to go to a church building, sing some songs, have fellowship, and give money to the weekly contribution out of habit, without always appreciating what we are doing. We can easily fall into the trap of doing "church activities" because "We do it all the time," "God will be upset if we don't," or "I grew up doing this." This is not what being part of the Church should be about.
Yes, proper worship, living, and service is important to the Christian life, as is being part of the Church. But to truly experience the "Divine," as the above article suggests, let us focus on also building a healthy relationship with God. Let us draw near to Him with all prayers and requests and let us have hearts ready to do His will. Going with God involves far more than just "going to church" on Sunday; it is a lifestyle and a relationship with the Lord.
~ Christian Basar
On the left, one person is going to the door saying "To God." On the right, a multitude are going to the door saying "To Church" or "To the Church." (You can see the original photo and a small snippet at this link) The devotional essentially says this: "God is near us, and He had heard us [our prayers, etc.]; we must open the correct door in order to truly get to the Divine. But will we open the correct door?"
I agree with this article to a large extent. However, I must first qualify my response to it. I do believe that the Church ("big 'C'") is vitally important. It is, after all, the Body of Christ and those within it have been added to Christ, apart from Whom no one can be saved. Those in the Church are Christians, and those outside of the Church are not Christians. See Acts 2:37-41, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Colossians 1:18, and Ephesians 4:1-16 for Biblical evidence of these ideas. And for people inside the Church, we are still expected to live Godly lives, worship God in spirit and in truth, be there for each other, help others come to know Christ, etc. You know, those "Church activities." ;)
However, one can "go to church" (note the "small 'c'") and forget God. It can be easy for us to go to a church building, sing some songs, have fellowship, and give money to the weekly contribution out of habit, without always appreciating what we are doing. We can easily fall into the trap of doing "church activities" because "We do it all the time," "God will be upset if we don't," or "I grew up doing this." This is not what being part of the Church should be about.
Yes, proper worship, living, and service is important to the Christian life, as is being part of the Church. But to truly experience the "Divine," as the above article suggests, let us focus on also building a healthy relationship with God. Let us draw near to Him with all prayers and requests and let us have hearts ready to do His will. Going with God involves far more than just "going to church" on Sunday; it is a lifestyle and a relationship with the Lord.
~ Christian Basar
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