How much time do we spend in church?
I have had a crazy thought, are Christians encouraged to spend too much time in church?
For a committed church member there are a lot of activities. The intention is good, building relationships in the church, encouraging each other, praying for our community etc. But is the outcome always good?
A few years ago my hubby struggled to keep up with his tennis club AND with his church activities. It was hard to do both. But tennis was the only place he really connected and made friends with non-church goers.
There were some people who thought he should just quit tennis because he would occasionally prioritise it over church activities (Sacrilege! Blasphemy!).
Lets be clear, I am not suggesting that church should only take place on a Sunday morning, with nothing else ever on offer.
But connections in the community are equally crucial.
The third place
There is an urban planning concept called "the third place". It refers to social surroundings apart from work and home, which are the first two places presumably. The “third place” is where meaningful relationships grow and develop within a community.
For some it is the pub or a cafe, for others a mothers group, for some it’s a sports club, but really it can be anything.
But if church becomes the only "third place" for Christians we become isolated.
It is so easy and tempting to treat church as our third place. We feel comfortable; it becomes the place we make friends and connect. We feel so righteous being able to say "I was “doing church” every day this week, I'm really focussing on God".
But if we stay inside our church buildings, what happens to everyone outside?
Church Priorities
It’s easy to see why church activities start to take up all so much time in our lives.
Praying is good, bible studies are good, as are house groups, marriage courses, worship groups, leaders meetings and of course the Sunday service. Add into the mix conferences and visiting speaker events and you’ve got a full schedule.
All these things are good, and can be incredibly useful tools for our Christian growth but is it any wonder that people run out of time?
In the past I have sometimes wondered if churches get too busy trying to sort out the church that they have. Maybe they miss the church that could be and is waiting for them, outside the four walls of the building.
Rick Warren has recently brought this up too, check it out here. He talks about how Christians need to make friends outside of the church.
One church I've heard of addressed this by telling members they should all join a club. Find something they genuinely love doing and then join a non-Christian club to do it. It’s a thought.
What do you think?
KG
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