Church, why?

When I moved from India to America, I noticed an abundance of churches. I assumed that it was a good thing because that meant there was a better opportunity to learn from the wisdom of preachers and to be around people who might possibly share similar views.

There is something about being at church that feels like home. I enjoy going to church by myself. It’s peaceful to be able to sit quietly in a church where you don’t know anyone - to not feel the need to do this and that, or say unnecessary things or fill social expectations.  

I went to a Catholic school in India and would often visit their church. I would also go to a different church close to where I worked in India . It is a very normal thing for me to go to many churches and I don’t find anything odd or weird about it. 

I attend two churches here as well. I did not expect it to draw attention but it does. 

Flatirons church, the loud, obnoxious church is a topic of much discussion - by people who barely even visit or like the church. There are people who are waiting for the church to fail - who talk about the preachers in a condescending way. I have heard many things about Flatirons church - right from how the preacher is crazy, how the teaching is not biblical, the messages are ‘easy’, repetitive and how they preach what people want to hear, the music is not church like, and how this preacher is better and that one was not. 

The constant comparison, belittling and judgment is something I did not expect.

One would think that people don’t have to go to churches they don’t like or listen to sermons they don’t benefit from, but at the same time be respectful of someone else’s journey. We are all unique in how we approach faith and we learn differently, though we might believe in the same God. I think people should stop obsessing about other people’s choices and worry about their own churches and lives.

I’ve been going to Flatirons church for a while. This is not just  something I do in my spare time when I have nothing better to do. I actually like the sermons and I’m fond of their preachers. I appreciate their humility and their willingness to be real and honest about their failures. I like how they make the gospel accessible to everyone and they are not elitist in their Christian beliefs. The church is almost entirely run by volunteers. I saw the same spirit of humility in the little time I volunteered with their ministry. Their sermons are consistent. They are clear about what they believe, they do not contradict themselves in what is preached and they don't use the Bible as a means to judge and condemn people.

Flatirons church is not perfect but then no church is perfect. I wish  Flatirons would tone down their music volume and put more thought in their song choices. Also, they should not put themselves in a position where their work is undermined as ‘fluff’, when it is not.

It is sad to see the condition of churches everywhere. We are so fragmented as the body of Christ, that we don’t even like other Christians or churches, that might do things differently. 

We consider loyalty to a church to be above loyalty to learning and growing in faith, especially if it means going to a different church. It is not surprising that the church does not have much impact in our society. We need to be open to fixing problems in our own house before trying to do things elsewhere.