So why bother? Couldn't we all use the extra sleep?

If "going to a church" is not mandatory for the making of a Christian then why bother? Couldn't we all use the extra sleep?

As we speak of Christ, His Church and His followers we must carefully consider
the words we choose and how we use them. It is necessary to refine our language and precisely define the words we use. Much of the majestic Christian vocabulary has been hijacked and rendered mundane in our culture.

There is another interesting thing happening today. We have this odd idea that I can call myself anything I want to and that I am whatever I call myself. I declare myself Christian so I am Christian. Nouns and adjectives have become something I choose, something I consume rather than something that points to or describes truth; it is an irony of the commercial consumption self indulgent context we inhabit. The implication of this is that everything becomes consumable and subject to my choice. This context has tamed our understanding of Church. Church is now something I shop around for to suit my needs; it is where I will go as long as I get something out of it.

So this brings us back to: (1) going to church does not make "me" Christian and (2) Christians don't have to go to church.

Is there a response to this? Yes! Christians have always had the urge to gather not because it is what "christians are supposed to do" but because it is what Christians can't help but do. Call it a symptom of being Christian. The Church naturally instinctively inevitably unavoidably tends to gather as one because God is One; in Him we are one.

In our present darkness this gathering can happen only in fragments and splinters. Christians cluster sharing the pure joy felt as we are nurtured in relationship with God. Christians come together in worship because joy overflows the Christian heart.  In these gatherings our infinite God is the focus; we set aside our mundane finite agendas, works, economies and indications to worship. Christians gather in response to God's Love and the instinct to thank Him - the gatherings celebrate being Loved by God. The gatherings share and remember who God is, what God does and oh how He Loves.

Notice here that neither the gathering nor the gathering place is the Church. In our secular language we reference the place of gathering and the gathering itself as "Church" because both are closely associated with the Church - but neither are. Scripture indicates that one day all Christians, the entire cloud of witness (that is the Church) will gather - something that we await eagerly but has not yet occurred (as of the moment of writing that is).

So finally, the desire to gather is a symptom of being Christian; Christians gather not by discipline or demand but from desire. Church is not where we go. Church is the people of God (across the ages) set apart for God to bear His witness. Church is God's missional instrument to the world in the world! Are you part of it? That is a matter between you and God - Scripture tells us Christian lives will reflect Christ in the world. That is true. This is also true: God wants you to be part of it; but He won't force you. He truly leaves this choice to you.