"What Is The Church Really Here For"

What is the church really here for? This episode breaks down the biblical truth and practical reality of what the church was meant to be - and what is has become. If you've ever felt hurt, disconnected, or unsure about your place, this conversation is for you!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Welcome back, you guys. Welcome back to Honestly Speaking Alone Together, a place where real conversations happen. Life isn't always neat, polished, or easy, and here we're not pretending that it is. This podcast is about faith, grief, healing, truth, and the moments that shape us. It's about speaking honestly about the struggles we face, the lessons we learned, and the hope we find along the way. Some conversations may challenge you, some may encourage you, and some may simply remind you that you are not alone. So take a break, settle in, and let's talk about the things that matter most. Hi, I'm Erin Spark, and this is honestly speaking, alone together. Well, well, well, we are back after a few weeks of a break, as you might say, but I missed you guys. I missed you guys. So let's get into it today. Um, this podcast title is What is the church really here for? Um, I don't know where you are in your faith walk. I don't um know what your belief is, but there have been a lot of people that have been hurt by church. And I just want to bring this topic forth um as God has led me. So, you know, somewhere along the way, church became a place we attend instead of people, um, a people that we belong to. You know what I'm saying? So what if we've misunderstood it completely? What if the church was never meant to be a performance, but a place of healing, growth, and transformation? This is where we're gonna have some real raw and redeeming conversations about the church. So today let's dive into something that might challenge what you've experienced. What is the church really here for? Because let's be honest, friend, some people have been hurt by the church, some feel judged, unseen, or even disconnected, and others just go through the motions every Sunday and end up still feeling empty when they leave. So today, let's go deeper, not into opinions, but into the truth. So the biblical foundation of the church, you know, the church was never meant to be a building, it is a body, us believers. And Acts 2, 42 through 47 shows us the original blueprint for the church. They devoted themselves to teaching, they they fellowshipped, they broke bread, there were prayer and meeting each other's needs. See, the early church wasn't about image, it was about intimacy and impact. So let me repeat that again. The early church was not about image. No, no, no, no. It was about intimacy and impact. So also in 1 Corinthians 12, let's look what we're reminded of. We are one body with many parts. What does that mean? Everyone matters, everyone has a role, and no one is meant to do life alone. So, where did we get it twisted, y'all? Where did we get it twisted? Let's be real. Somewhere along the way, all along the way, performance replaced presence, let's just be honest. Judgment replaced grace, let's be honest, and religion replaced relationship. And we're gonna double be honest about that. And people started feeling like, you know, they had to be perfect to belong, they had to hide their struggles, or even worse, friend, they that they weren't welcome at all. And I've heard so many people say that they um at certain churches they don't feel welcome, but that's not Jesus. Jesus sat with the broken, he touched the rejected and he restored before he ever corrected. So, what the church is actually called to do, what are we actually called to do? Number one, be a place of healing. James 5 and 16 tells us, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. Church should be a safe place to say, I am not okay with our judgment. We're to be making disciples, not just attendees. Hear me when I say this, y'all. We're to make disciples, not just attendees. And Matthew 28 backs this up in 19 and 20. We're not called to fill seats, which is a lot of what we can be doing these days. It's just filling seats. But God said that we're called to transform lives. Also, carrying each other's burdens. How many times have you felt alone in what you are walking through or what you have walked through? Galatians 6 and 2 tells us what the real church looks like. Showing up when someone is grieving, praying with someone in the middle of their mess, not judging, but praying with somebody. P-R-A-Y, not P-R-E-Y. Walking with people, not watching them struggle. We're supposed to be equipping people for real life. There's so many things that I can remember growing up, you know, and I love church growing up. I love it. I miss it, but there were some things as I was growing up that I just do not remember being taught or talked about because it was kind of shamed, you know, or it was a stigma to it. But I really needed it. And I know that there are people out there now that need to be equipped for real life because real life is happening. So in Ephesians 4, 11 and 12, it says the church isn't just for Sunday, it's to prepare us for, listen to this clearly Monday's stress, Tuesday's temptation, Wednesday's weariness. Come on, somebody. What this looks like practically. So let's just let's let's break this down, friend. Let's break this down into everyday life. Church should feel just like this community, not competition. How many of you know that there's people out there that are in church that are that are competing, that they have a competing mentality instead of community? We're not here to compete, not when we all go into the same place. All of us are striving to get to heaven. So it should be about community, not competition. It should be about accountability, not shame. So many times people leave church because they've been shamed. Accountability is different. You're holding somebody accountable for their actions, but you're not shaming them. And about growth, not pressure. We're not here to pressure anybody. We're here to help people grow, especially baby Christians that are just coming into the church. Now, if you've been in church for years and years and years and years and years, sometimes I look at it as we've been taught certain things, and you know, not all is bad, not all is is, you know, we're gonna throw it out. Like they, like they say, we ain't throwing the baby out with the bath water. But there have been times that I have felt pressure instead of people helping me grow. Um, one instance that I do not mind talking about. Um, it's a big deal in the church, is women that are having babies before they're married. Um, back in the day, I was told that I needed to stand in front of the church and apologize um for getting pregnant before I was married. That's shame. The shame. We never really did talk about sexuality in the church, and it needs to be, especially in the days now that we were in. Sexuality in the church needs to be talked about. But it's not about shame and it's not about pressure. And now looking back at that, that embarrassed me. And and church is not a place that we should be embarrassing people, we should be helping people. So, small groups is where people can be real. Churches ought to have small groups or even outside. If God is leading you to start a small group, start a small group to help people where they can be seen and heard. Leaders who are transparent, not untouchable. We need leaders who are open about where they've been in life, things that God has delivered them from. And I love to say it. And anytime I get up to give a word, I love to say, I'm gonna be transparent. I'm not gonna hide anything from you. I'm gonna be open and I'm gonna be honest about where I've been in hopes that somebody else can look at my life and say, if God did it for her, He can definitely do it for me. Serving others, not just being served. That's a big one. How many times have we seen people just want to be served? And I'm talking about from the pulpit to the back door, just being served, but you're not doing any serving yourself. In the word, in the end, Jesus says, Well done, thy good and faithful. What? You got it right, servant, and creating space for healing, not hiding. So many times people can be ashamed of where they are or where they have walked in life because people talk, people gossip, you know, and the church shouldn't be like that. The church should be a place where people are able to be open and honest about where they've walked in life. And the church ought to create a space for healing, not where people hide or feel like they can't open up about where they are, where they've been. This is what the church looks like. We should be a community, have accountability, growth, small groups where they're needed, where people can be real and healed, leaders who are transparent, serving others, creating a space for healing. So let's go into a challenge that I challenge you today. If you've been hurt by the church, friend, your pain is valid. But don't let people misrepresent God to you. And if you are the church, which we all are as believers, ask yourself this Am I creating space for people to heal? Am I loving people where they are? Am I walking in truth and grace? Because let me tell you, the church isn't a place that you go, it's who you are. So let's go and dive in a little bit deeper, y'all. The conversations the church avoids, but we desperately need. There are things happening in the church, you guys, that nobody wants to talk about. Not because they don't matter, but because they're uncomfortable. But let me tell you this: silence doesn't always heal. It doesn't heal, actually. And avoidance doesn't free people. So today we're going there. Today's episode two, in this section, it might definitely feel a little uncomfortable, but it's necessary because there are real issues affecting real people in the church, and instead of addressing them, we often choose silence, but that can be deadly. If the church is supposed to be a place of healing, we can't keep avoiding the wounds, church. We can't, we cannot keep avoiding them. So church hurt. Why do we not talk about church hurt? People have been misjudged, manipulated, overlooked, even spiritually abused. Yes. And instead of acknowledging it, the response has and can be just pray about it. Don't talk about leadership. Stay quiet to keep the peace. But healing requires honesty. And you can love the church and still acknowledge that it hurts you. So let's talk about another one. A biggie, mental health in the church. This topic, this one right here, has been pushed aside for way too long. There are people in the church that are dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief. And instead of support, they're met with, you just need more faith. You shouldn't feel that way. But faith and mental health are not enemies, dear friend. God created wisdom, counseling, and community. So the church should be a place where someone can say, Hey, I'm struggling mentally and be met with compassion, not correction. So the sin we tolerate versus sin we judge. That's a big one too. But let's be honest. Some sins are preached loudly. Loudly. I mean loud. And others are quietly ignored. Gossip is normalized, pride is overlooked, control is disguised as leadership, but then other struggles are spotlighted and shamed. That, my friend, is imbalance. God does not categorize sin the way that we do. He calls us into transformation. Now, this one may be uncomfortable too, but it's necessary. So I gotta touch on it because God is giving me this to touch on it. Not all leadership is healthy. We're gonna be honest today. We honest. This is where truth, honest, all this is come, we we come out with this, honestly speaking. Not all leadership is healthy. When there's no accountability, no humility, no transparency, that can create environments where people get hurt. Biblically, leaders are called to serve, not control. They're called to shepherd and not dominate. So the church should never feel like a place where people are afraid to speak. And a lot of churches have, let's be honest, I grew up in Baptist, so I know a lot of churches have services, programs, events, but not enough true discipleship. And the Bible is plain about this. Go out into all the world and preach the gospel. Make disciples, make disciples. People are saved, but they're not taught how to heal, grow, break cycles, and live out their faith daily in some places. So what happens? They stay stuck. And the church is called to walk with people, not just welcome them in. And we wonder why so many people come into the church, they stay for a little while, and then we don't see them anymore. So let's be real about why this happens. This happens because there's a fear of conflict, fear of people leaving, why we avoid these topics, fear of looking bad, and a comfort in tradition. Let's be honest. Tradition has a lot to do with it. And that's a lot of the reasons why we avoid these topics in the church. But avoiding truth doesn't protect the church, it prevents the church from becoming what it's supposed to be. So I'm going to give a call back to the authentic church as God has given me. What if the church became a place where people could be honest without fear? Leaders were approachable and accountable. Healing is prioritized and truth is spoken in love, but not control. That, my friend, is the kind of church people don't walk away from. That, my friend, is the kind of church that reflects Jesus. It reflects Jesus. Do you hear me? It reflects Jesus. So in this closing, I want to pray. Pray for the people that have been hurt by the church because it was not God, the church. And people have flaws. People have flaws. So God didn't hurt you. People hurt you. So God, Father God, help us to become the church that you intended. Not where we're perfect, but that we are pure in heart. We're not performative, God, but we're present. Father, teach us to love like you. To see people the way you see them, God. And to create spaces where healing can truly happen. Father, please restore what has been broken in your church and let it start, Father God, with us. God, give us the courage to address what we've avoided. Heal the wounds, Father, that have been ignored. Restore trust where it's been broken. Father, and help us become a church that reflects your heart. Full of truth, full of grace, and full of genuine love. And God, start with us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So if this episode stirs something in you, like it did me, it stirred something in me. Don't ignore it. Share it, friend. Talk about it. Pray about it. Because the church isn't called to be perfect, but we are called to be honest. This is honestly speaking, alone together. And remember, I love you and God loves you more. Until next time, friend.