From the Pulpit

I like to talk to people who don’t go to church.

I didn’t grow up going to church, but since I became a young adult, the church has had a huge impact on my life. Because of this, I have often wondered why someone would not want to attend church. When I ask, I usually do not get a theological answer.

Most of the answers are along the lines of, “I tried church. I didn’t understand what I was supposed to do. I didn’t know the music. I felt uncomfortable.” Or, “I felt like everyone was looking at me because I wasn’t dressed like them” or “I had too many tattoos.”

One person even told me they felt uncomfortable because their spouse was a different race than them. They basically concluded that, “Maybe church is not for me; I wish I could save my marriage; I wish I wasn’t losing my kids; but I can’t seem to break into this culture.” Or, “I would love to connect with God. I tried church and it just wasn’t relevant. It didn’t seem like it was for the real world.”

Do you know what I found out?

Most people don’t have a problem with God; they just have a problem with church. Most people would like to connect with God, but the church tends to get in the way.

The proof of my theory is that in two weeks, all the churches across this community will be filled to the max for Easter services because people have a desire to connect with God. The problem is they get there and are reminded again why they don’t go to church.

There is no connection or it is not relevant to them. They leave often repeating what they have said before, “I just don’t feel comfortable in church. I am comfortable at home, at the office, on the golf course, or out on the boat, but I just am not comfortable at church.”

So, they sadly come to the conclusion that maybe church is just for church people, in the same way the country club is for those who play golf and the yacht club is for those who sail. The church is just for church people.

The problem is that if church is just for church people, then Christianity is just for church people; and if Christianity is just for church people, then that means Jesus is just for church people. If you read the Bible, that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

Jesus is not just for church people. He is for everyone.

One of the reasons for this perception is that the church seems to make everything complicated. This propensity started about a week after Jesus left. What Jesus had meant to be simple, man has a tendency to complicate.

Most early Christians were Jewish. After all, Jesus was Jewish and Christianity kind of became an extension of Judaism. But then Paul came along and took this story out to the non-Jewish areas of the world and told people about Jesus. Many miracles were performed and many of these non-Jewish people put their trust in Christ.

Meanwhile, word got back to Jerusalem that these non-Jewish people were not adopting Jewish practices. Some the Jews were very upset. So they called a council in Jerusalem for all the church heavy hitters to decide what to do.

Some of the Jewish Christians were calling for the Gentiles to be circumcised and follow the Jewish customs. Meanwhile, others like Peter and Paul claimed that only faith was necessary for salvation. This went on in typical “church business meeting” fashion until finally James, the brother of Jesus and head of the Jerusalem church, said something so profound that it still rings true today:

Acts 15:19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”

How difficult we sometimes make it for those who are turning to God.

The Gospel isn’t for church people. It is for everyone. We, as followers of Christ, must fight the insider-ness that seems to naturally develop in church. Otherwise, what James said will be true for our churches, as well. We have to work to keep it simple and accessible for people to come to God, because somebody made it simple and accessible for us.

Church is not just for church people. It is for everybody, because everybody is important to God.

Pastor Eric Partin is the lead pastor of Shoreline Church in Destin and can be reached at epartin@cox.net