Monday, December 1, 2008

The Church of Snowshoes



I'm bored with church. I have my issues with our church and church in general, but that's not the bone I have to pick today.
I'm bored and tired and just plain "over" church. It might just be the new focus that my church has, which I am definitely not their target audience, but it might also be that I've gone to church almost every single Sunday of my life... I don't feel like there's anything they can say or teach that would have me saying "wow! I never thought of that! My life is changed forever!" I feel disheartened that I can look at the series title and the "subtopics" of each week, and predict (with pretty close accuracy) what the overall message will be.
So what happens when you've been going to church for almost 23 years and it's all old news? I know that the gospel and Jesus and the Bible are always "alive" and can change lives, but I sure don't feel that way. I love God, I believe Jesus was born and died on the cross for the world's sins, and I believe the Bible is God's holy word; I also try to live my life loving people the way Jesus loved them and viewed "others" and "sinners," I tithe, I try to read my Bible regularly, I pray... so what else is new? I know I can learn new things, like Bible history/context, but that just becomes head knowledge.
The only thing drawing us to church is our young marrieds group... but even that is beginning to lack because we see the same people on Tuesday nights for our Bible study. Don't get me wrong, I love our friends, but I don't feel like we're connecting on the level that I desire. But I'm sure it just goes along with my overall feelings about church at the moment. So is there hope for next Saturday night, when Michael and I are in bed discussing whether or not to set our alarm for the next morning? I know church is about fellowship, but just going and sitting in the seats does not make any sort of fellowship-- there are hundreds of people who come to the same service I do, and I know about a dozen of them because they're in our young marrieds group-- there is no real sense of community or fellowship. I feel obligated to go because I'm a "Christian" (or as I like to say, Christ-follower) and church is just something you do.
So all this to say, you might not find me front and center at church for a while. We'll go occasionally, but Michael and I have created friendships that we can get fellowship out of, even if it's not in a building doing "church," so going on Sunday is not as much of a priority. And now that it's getting snowier, you're probably more apt to find us trekking up a mountain through the snow on our snowshoes with friends and some hot chocolate! I'd much rather spend my Sundays with good friends, surrounded by God's creation. That way, I won't be more entertained by a piece of candy than the "production" my church is putting on.

4 comments:

Helen said...

Hi Kate, I'm posting here because it's blog comment day and I've never posted on your blog before and I thought this was an interesting post.

I love that Mr Bean clip :)

I know church is about fellowship, but just going and sitting in the seats does not make any sort of fellowship

Yes - that was the nail in the coffin for me that stopped me going to church.

Actually people have different ideas about what church is about. The reason services like often aren't about fellowship is because of Christians historically thinking they should be about worshipping God and learning from the Bible.

I used to value those things as well as fellowship but once my beliefs changed, all that was left was fellowship, so, like you (regarding fellowship but not necessarily beliefs), since church wasn't about that, I wasn't motivated to go anymore.

Kate said...

Helen--
Happy blog comment day :-) Thanks for your comment! I'll have to go check out your blogs.
It's disappointing that many churches either have all fellowship and no real worship, or all worship and no fellowship-- well, at least in my experience.
Fellowship is so important- that's what Jesus did with his disciples, so when that sense of community isn't there, I really don't see the point-- it all just ends up feeling like a chore, which should not be the reaction church evokes out of me! Hopefully I can find somewhere or someone(s) to find that fellowship with and grow deeper with, because church is going to get really old really fast and I wont end up going at all!

Helen said...

Thanks for your response, Kate! I hope you find some Christians in your area who care about fellowship as much as you.

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