I find ‘church’ boring and a chasing of shadows…

Q: I have been going to church for many years and the church has been simply preoccupied with promoting attendance and putting up a church building. In the early days it was interesting but now I find it boring and a chasing of shadows. Am I missing a point? [First published on 19 April 2009]

The word ‘church’ simply means an assembly of the called-out ones and it has its beginning in Creation. The first ‘church’ was founded and shepherded by God Himself. God created Man not for heaven but to dominate the earth. He therefore created him in His own image (which He achieved) and likeness (which was to be cultivated). It is the combination of both that would enable Man to achieve that dominion.

God’s primary objective in planting a garden in Eden was to provide a training ground to cultivate His likeness. Likeness, unlike image, cannot be created instantaneously. It can only be imparted. It is like taking a photograph. At the click of a button, a shutter is opened, light is let in, an image of the object in front of the camera is formed on a sensitive paper or device. But training a person to function, act and behave like God requires more than a click. It takes interaction, association, observation and practice. These were provided in the garden. God would come in the cool of the day to fellowship with Adam. He gave him instructions to obey, work to do (not money), taught him the power of words, and assigned him to name the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Adam was practically shown the essence of love: By being split into two–male and female–for it is not good for Man to be all-in-one. Love is only expressed when there is an object of affection.

The plan was for Man to graduate and then replicate The Garden over the whole earth. But Adam missed the point, didn’t complete the programme, broke Garden regulations and was expelled.

After Adam, God chose a man, Abram, who later became Abraham, to work with, on and through, to bring salvation to the whole world. He called him out of his father’s house—the beginning of another church. He promised to bless him, make him a great nation and a great name so that through him all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12).  The nation, Israel, was the result. Like Adam, they missed it. Instead of being a kingdom of priests as God intended, they became like other nations. They misunderstood God’s plan and purpose for the whole world. They thought it was all about themselves. They acted and behaved like other nations.

Eventually when Jesus, the Saviour of the world, showed up, it was the same church concept he applied. He appointed the Twelve, that they might be with Him (just like God and Adam in Eden) before sending them out to do likewise (Mark 3:14). The church concept is God’s and the church should be the ground and pillar of truth (see 1Timothy 3:15), to teach God’s eternal plans and purpose, as revealed in His Instruction manual – the Bible; equip Believers for service in every sphere of human activity in the community and the nation. It defeats God’s eternal plan of spreading dominion over the whole earth when a ‘church’ is self-centred. It is not a show parade but an equipping centre. One should go to church to learn to do and then go out to do. In a sense, it’s like a hospital; it caters for the sick. I am not aware of any hospital that takes pride in the number of patients on its beds but rather on the number of treated patients doing well outside. Or a mechanic proud to show off the number of broken down vehicles in his garage!