“It’s not going to church that counts, it’s having a relationship with God”
“There’s too much hypocrisy in the church”
“Ah church, it’s just a money making venture these days”
“Abeg I don’t do church”
Do these words sound familiar? I know they do and I’ve heard them a lot from people who grew up as christians and I can’t help but wonder what’s driving people away from the church.
I’m a christian, I’ve been so my entire life, born into a christian home and continued in that path when I was old enough to understand the decision. And I hope that till the day I die, I remain a christian. Growing up in a christian home meant that Sundays were for church followed by Sunday rice and then the holy grail; the almighty Sunday nap. This was an unspoken rule in Nigeria, an unwritten part of the constitution, if I may so. As an adult who’s old enough to make her own decisions. I still go to church, not out of habit but because it’s where my soul gets its nourishment. It’s where I can stand under the umbrella of collective worship and find encouragement for my soul. It’s where I walk into burdened some days and walk out ten pounds lighter. It’s where I go to commune with God and refill on joy because like the Psalmist said, “I was glad when they said let us go to the house of the Lord”. It’s home.
Having gotten older though, I’m noticing more people step away from the physical church rather than embrace it. I’m sure you know someone who has as well, that’s if you aren’t the character in question. More and more young adults have stopped physically going to church with many citing that the church has become a business or a building full of hypocrites. Others can’t stand the legalism that has creeped back into church, the very thing Jesus tried to abolish.
I’ve struggled with writing and publishing this post for almost a month because I haven’t fully found the words to capture my discontent with the church today. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for me, to say the least, as I undergo pre-marital counselling from both my home church, a pentecostal church, and the Catholic church. And I knew I just had to write my observations. I’ll borrow some words from the bible plan from the YouVersion verse of the day on 8th September that almost captures everything I want to say:
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, Jesus spoke to opportunity. He breathed life with His words. There was only one group of people Jesus ever had harsh words for: the Pharisees. Why? Their words sucked the life out of people. Their rules, regulations and rituals kept people from discovering a relationship with the One who came to fulfill the law they wanted to protect. They put conditions on the unconditional love of Jesus.”
Are we discouraging people from the church with rules that are not fundamentally bible based? Have we come to a place of not questioning our spiritual leaders when they say things on the pulpit without finding out if it’s in accordance with the Bible? After all the bible says “my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Have we suddenly collectively developed spiritual amnesia and forgotten that the church isn’t for people who have figured out their lives out like a hospital isn’t for healthy people? Why have we become goody-two shoed people who don’t remember we were once sinners and even if we’ve been saved all our lives, that it’s only by grace that we have been saved. Why have some people gone as far as appointing themselves Senior Special Adviser to the Holy Spirit, judging and interpreting the Bible as they please? I remember hearing someone say these words and they’ve stuck with me all these years. Sadly, I do not remember the origin.
“The church has increasingly become a place where grace is preached, but not given.”
Unless I’m wrong or don’t understand the gospel properly, christians are called to be Christ’s ambassador. For many people, we are the Jesus they would see. We’ve reduced witnessing/soul-winning to only telling people about Jesus, when it’s a whole lot more than that. It’s also about living a life that shows God’s love. A Bible plan summarized it as thus:
“Evangelism is not about bring people to Jesus but bringing Jesus to people – to show and then tell.”
Can we as the church go back to God’s original plan and not be the reason people are leaving the church, upon coming across us?
