Why Church Still Matters

Culture says be an individual. And many people say "I'm spiritual but not religious" or "I can be a Christian on my own." However, being a Christian has always meant being in community. Being together. 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to season four of Faith in the Cracks. I'm Pastor Karen Wright. Life has cracks, moments between activities, places where we feel fractured. This is the space where we listen for God in the ordinary moments of life, where we are reminded that just as cracks let things in, it's a space for light and love to shine through. So just like plants grow in the cracks of a sidewalk, let faith grow in the cracks of our lives, trusting that God is at work within us. Episode 25. And while it's true that we can find God in nature, we can find God in all sorts of situations and circumstances, there is some truth to those statements. We can be spiritual and we can work on our own faith formation and our own spirituality. We can take quiet moments and pause. But at its heart, Christianity has never been a solo journey. We don't even profess that our God, who is one and three and three and one, the Holy Trinity, our God is a communal God. And when in Genesis Adam, the earth creature, is made, the comment is that it's not good for the earth creature to be alone. And so we have the creation of Eve, and that whole story can be its own podcast. But we are meant to be in relationship with one another. We're meant to be in relationship with God and with one another. And from the earliest church in Acts, Acts 2, and this is verses 42 to 47, the believers gathered. They gathered to pray and to eat together, to serve, to care for one another. That was in Acts, is when they made deacons in chapter 6. They were making sure that the widows had enough. And they were afraid, the Hellenists were afraid that the Greek widows were being overlooked. And so we've always, as a church, been about joining together to learn and grow together. And honestly, the church isn't perfect. The church has done a lot of damage over the centuries. And I don't want to excuse that or make light of that. The church is not perfect, and the church has things to learn. But as a part of that, the church isn't perfect because people aren't perfect. We often disappoint each other, we can disagree, sometimes we get things wrong. I think one of my favorite arguments that has occurred in so many churches is what color is the carpet in the sanctuary? Or talking about paint colors. Because sometimes we just like to argue about the little things so we can ignore the big things. But it's when we're in community with people that we learn about forgiveness, that we learn about generosity, that we learn about patience, that we learn about love. It's when we're in those moments of disagreement or disappointment that we begin to find what grace means. So church isn't just about the building. It's not about where we attend. It's about how we become a people together. There was an old song in the 70s by Avery and Marsh, I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together, all who follow Jesus all around the world, yes, we're the church together. And in our culture that prizes individualization and independence, the church is a last standing place about relationship. And I love watching at church the intergenerational relationships. As the program year started, we have bookmarks that adults could take, and they have one of the children of the church that they are praying for. And it's fun to watch the adults go find those children, to begin to make connections, to introduce themselves, to just ask how their week was. How did school, how did that go when you started school? And as a community, we're there for one another. We rejoice together, we grieve together, we worship together, we serve together, we are in relationship. And so no one follows Jesus entirely alone. We can do work on our own, we can have our own journaling, devotion time, prayer life, and those are all great. But we also need each other because being church means being together. Until next time. Thanks for listening. New podcasts are released every Monday. If you like the show, share it with a friend, or scroll to the bottom of the episode description and support the show for the cost of a cup of coffee once a month. You can also check out my webpage at faithinthecracks.com. As you go through your week, remember you are a child of God and you are loved. May God seep into the cracks and bring forth new life.