Think about a new love relationship—it’s exciting and thrilling. You don’t know what to expect, and there’s a rush of newness and unfamiliarity that can be exhilarating. Eventually, you get to know the person better and better, and that new love deepens into real love, which most of us have discovered is far, far better than the rush of newness.
For many church hoppers, this rush of newness is why they go from church to church, never settling down. At first, the experience is exnihilating. The pastor’s words are different and exciting, and the music and people are fresh. You feel almost giddy as you enter the worship space. What will happen? The possibilities are endless.
Then the rush wears off, and the shiny surface starts to peel back just a bit. You discover a quirk in the pastor’s style that rubs you the wrong way, or maybe another churchgoer doesn’t smile back at you, which you take personally (if only you knew she has a migraine and even moving hurts). As soon as the drama and excitement fade, we’re gone, off to find the next shiny new place we think will fire up that rush inside us that we misinterpret as the movement of the Holy Spirit. In reality, it’s just adrenaline or discomfort. Just like people who get bored when the romance fades and leave, the church hopper seeking excitement in a new congregation is just as emotionally immature.
There’s something to be said about commitment, staying the course, and building something that’s meant for the long haul. As Jesus said in Luke 9:62,
“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Dive in. Invest. Stick around.
Related Resource: What Is the Purpose of the Church?
It has often been said that “the church is God’s Plan A for working in the world, and there is no Plan B.” We don’t disagree with that. Similarly, third-century theologian Cyprian of Carthage once said, “No one can have God for his Father, who does not have the church for his mother.”
Cyprian also said, “Outside the Church, there is no salvation.” While we don’t take his meaning literally, this axiom offers important wisdom. There is no way for people in the world to experience Jesus and be formed by his way of life apart from walking alongside other Jesus people.
But what exactly is the church? What is its purpose and function in the world?
While most of us would agree upon a set of theological tenets regarding the church, many fundamental questions go unspoken. Even without us talking about them, they provide a rubric for the practical concerns we think are important.
In this episode of The Kainos Project Podcast we probe into some of those questions: Who is the church for? What should it be doing in the world? And where is allowable, and even healthy, to have disagreement over those questions? Listen in! And if you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
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