So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore: An Unexpected Journey

by Wayne Jacobsen

didn’t see the church as a meeting or an institution, but as a family living under Father.” “Are you suggesting we not meet?” Marsha asked, sounding annoyed. “No, Marsha, you’re missing the point. Meeting together isn’t the problem, but it’s easy to get stuck in a way of meeting that is artificial and counterproductive. That’s why it feels awkward to you.” “Yes, but we don’t have a praise team or the same person giving us a lecture every week. Isn’t this more relational?” “It can be. But it can also be a less-controlled replication of the same dynamic. We’re trying to get from our brothers and sisters what we’re not finding in Father himself. That’s a recipe for disaster. Nothing we as believers can ever do together will make up for the lack of our own relationship with God. When we put the church in that place, we make it an idol and others will always end up disappointing us.” “Is that why Jake says you are against house church?” Marvin jumped in again. “I don’t think I’ve ever said that,” John said, turning toward me with a questioning look on his face. “That isn’t how I think. But I did try to get him to think beyond it, as I want you to do.” “We thought house church was a more biblical way to do church. It offers more participation and is less controlled by clergy, less demanding of time and resources, and more relational than institutional church. Isn’t that true?” “Just because it meets in a home?” The skeptical look on John’s face said it all. “That isn’t always tr...