The Church – Why Be There?

Marva Dawn is a Christian writer and theologian. This is from her book: “Worship: A Royal Waste of Time.” She is confined to a wheelchair which explains some of her comments.

1. We’re not going to Church, we ARE the Church. We appear before God to get to know Him better and to be a better church.
2. We who are old and tired and have been on this track a long time need your smiles and warmth and vitality.
3. The congregation cannot get along without you! Surprising, eh? Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 12 that the church needs every single part to make it whole. Perhaps someone there will need your hands, your eyes, your legs, your friendship this week. In fact, you can depend on it.
4. You will learn things through the unusual activity of group singing that will become clear to your mind later in the week.
5. Since God is ultimately beyond our mind’s comprehension (Isaiah 40:25), the collective experience of music and regularly enacted ceremonies (Lord’s Supper, prayers for healing) reaches parts of us that the mind cannot get to. Music pushes the boundaries. As Christians sing to the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:16), they join with the ongoing worship and praise in the heavenly places (Rev. 7:12-17; 14:1-5). Communal worship lifts us out of ourselves. Hymn-singing, intercessory prayer, sermonizing, children’s church, fellowshipping – these are done better in a group (Acts 12:12).
6. Thus, church meetings teach us indispensible skills for individual Christian practice – how to pray, how to sit quietly in God’s presence, how to study and apply the Bible. Jesus praised Mary greatly for simply being part of the audience (Luke 10:39-42). Not all of us take to these like a duck to water. Mastery of any skill takes constant practice.
7. We learn empathy and brotherly love. “I need you to come and worship because I have cancer and am taking chemotherapy which makes me too sick to stand and sing, so I need you to sing for both of us.” If we have any concern for others at all we need church to learn who is suffering this week, who needs prayer, who has died, who has just been blessed, what the various church ministries are up to.

Obviously there is more going on in regular church services than meets the eye. That’s why Peter says the angels are here with us, and listening attentively (1 Peter 1:12).