I quit going to church

By Joel Atwell

“… you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood … you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God …”

Dear church,

One of the things I’ve tried to remain committed to through the years as a “lead pastor” is on-going staff development. You know the leadership axiom – “Speed of the leader, speed of the team” – so if we, the church leadership team, quit learning and growing it’s not likely that we’ll lead the rest of the church into growth and change. Therefore, we (GC’s pastoral staff) have recently gone back and revisited a book that was really popular a few years ago titled “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” (Stephen Covey). I think it’s one of the great books on personal growth and self-leadership.

The fourth chapter in Covey’s book deals with “Habit #2 – Begin With the End in Mind” in which he challenges us to think about what’s really at the “center” of our lives. His reasoning says that unless we do the hard work of determining what really matters to us and operating every day out of a “principle-center” (our vision and values) then we won’t end up where we want to go in life. (Running hard and fast does us no good if we’re running hard and fast in the wrong direction.) I agree, but with this exception. As followers of Jesus I think we’re called not to have “principles” at the center, but to have a “person” at the center – and that “person” is Christ Jesus.

Anyway, as a part of this discussion Covey spins out a number of common default “centers” out of which people commonly operate – many of which sound good and perhaps even noble on the surface, but are fraught with hidden land mines. One such center, according to Covey, is what he calls being “church-centered.” Listen to what he says,

“I believe that almost anyone who is seriously involved in any church will recognize that churchgoing is not synonymous with personal spirituality. There are some people who get so busy in church worship and projects that they become insensitive to pressing human needs that surround them, contradicting the very precepts they profess to believe deeply… (Remember the “Good Samaritan?”) I have found that attending church does not necessarily mean living the principles taught in those meetings. You can be active in a church but inactive in its gospel … In the church-centered life, image or appearance can become a person’s dominant consideration, leading to hypocrisy …”

That’s a great insight and it’s what this “I quit going to church” stuff is all about. I’m not (nor was Covey) encouraging us to “give up meeting together; as some are in the habit of doing” (Heb. 10:25). Gathering for worship and for the pooling of our collective resources in order to advance the gospel is a good and valuable thing to do. I’m simply challenging us (especially me) to be more than a church-goer. Jesus didn’t live, die and rise so that we could “attend church services.” He did what he did so that we might truly BE the church.

Living toward that reality by his grace,

Joel