"Why Church": Week 4--Why Do I Believe?

Why Church?

by Courtney Brewer

Do you ever encounter people who are just waiting for you to trip up? What about people who talk on and on and have NO backup for what they’re saying? When I moved to Egypt, I was GRILLED with questions all the time. When people see you choosing a life they don't understand, they work hard to make you admit you're wrong or prove them wrong. While we cannot control those we come in contact with or their intentions, we CAN be as prepared as possible. Now wait a second. Prepared? Haven’t I been talking about living love? What is up with preparing? Let me explain.

As I mentioned before, many people are completely turned off by the church because of hypocrisy. Don’t you think it is just as hypocritical to claim a belief you do not even attempt to understand? Obviously, we think Christianity is THE WAY or else we would believe something else. But do we know WHY we believe it is THE WAY? That’s when Christianity becomes a title rather than a belief. Why on earth would anyone take you seriously? It is no secret that the our pastors study the word daily so that they can deliver the Word to the church. Have you ever really thought about why we have pastors, teachers, elders, etc? The Word of God is difficult to understand! I’m sure we’ve ALL thought that a time or two. What if going to church can be, for lack of a better word, educational.

Okay, before you say, “Boring,” think about it. We are supposed to hunger and thirst for the Word. Sometimes we do. But we hit a wall when we do not understand, and, too often, we quit. We give up. That’s why we gather together. So we can discuss it together and share understandings from different perspectives. If only one person interpreted the Word, then we would make him/her our only source of Truth. We wouldn't need the Word at all. Church is a place where we, the imperfect humans, can try and make sense of what our incredibly complex Lord has to tell us.

Also, when we’re asked questions by the world, how can we really answer unless we are studying and trying to discover what and why we believe? “Uhhhh, I’ve never thought about that,” isn't going to cut it. Such a statmenet may be all it takes to confirm someone’s accusation of hypocrisy or even ignorance. I’m not meaning to be harsh, but I think we take advantage of the fact that we’re bought by grace, and we forget the lifestyle that is to follow our salvation. We have the God-breathed Word. That’s so awesome!

So why church? So we can collaboratively try to unravel the mystery of our God so we can truly understand our faith.