Let's Go To Church

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are a reflection on Sunday’s message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/hear-a-message]

For the majority of my life, the main reason I went to church was because that’s just what my family did. There were times when I enjoyed it well enough, and I have some good memories of lessons in Sunday school and playing with my friends. I don’t remember actively looking forward to going to church very often though. When I got to college, I bounced around churches (and slept in a few more Sundays than when I lived with my parents) for a couple of years until deciding to stick with one church for a few months. When things didn’t work out there, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Shortly after, I found out about Encounter, and have been attending ever since.

But if I add up all the times I’ve been to church in my life, a good portion of them were done out of an attempt to fill something in myself. I went out a sense of obligation and guilt, or to find fellowship and enjoy the music, or to drink coffee and eat cookies.

Out of all the Sundays I've gone to church, a surprisingly small percentage of the times were because of a heartfelt desire to encounter God.

Much of the time my reasons are better now, but I'll admit--they're not always.

While all of my not-so-awesome reasons got me to church, I think it caused me to miss the point. Going to church isn't about hanging out with friends, singing some great songs, or drinking coffee and eating cookies. Those are good things, but they're not the ultimate thing.

Going to church should be about expecting to encounter God and walk away changed because of it.

We may not always feel like getting up on Sunday morning, or the sermon may seem kind of boring, or we may not like all the songs that are sung. Church is important though, because we desire a relationship with Jesus, and church is the perfect place for that to start--and continue.

Of course, we hopefully meet people there and continue to grow as part of the community, and good sermons and music and coffee and cookies are all wonderful.

Church isn't supposed to be just about what we take away though. It's also about what we give back.

This can look a lot of different ways. Maybe it's volunteering on the hospitality team or helping with kids programs. Maybe it's leading a Kitchen Group or playing the drums on the worship team. Maybe it's giving financially or donating your time in another way. Not only are these ways of giving back, in their own ways, they each create space to encounter God. Which is what church should be about.

So why do you go to church?

[Brianna DeWitt attends Encounter Church and lives, works, and writes in Grand Rapids, MI. Words are some of her favorite things, which is why her hobbies include reading, writing, and talking. She also shares on her personal blog at http://awritespot.wordpress.com and tweets @bwitt722. Portions of this post are adapted from "Why I Keep Writing About Church."]