Playing Church

Recently, there have been so many controversies and scandals around churches and seeing that we just celebrated, as Christians, the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, even at the wake of the sad news of the bombing of a church on Easter Sunday, I thought it best to write something about the church. South Africa has witnessed and read about so many events and allegations of what Pastors are doing to and with their congregation that many have chosen to sit at home and not attend church. This is so sad to me because church is supposed to be a safe place of fellowship and edification, a place where you get counselling on pressing matters and issues of life, and where you hear of the Good News of Christ. Instead, we are inundated with Pastors molesting children, feeding their congregation snakes and inedible fluids, allegedly resurrecting and healing people in some basement or promising people that in exchange for a certain amount of money, they will receive a blessing from God. That is not church.

I am no expert and have had my fair share of church hoping before settling down, with my entire family, at a church where we feel is our spiritual home. The church, like many things in life, is not perfect but I choose to do my part towards making it better or more functional for others. When speaking to most people on what made them settle down at a church and to fully commit to it, they will tell you it was because of a spiritual connection that they had with the church. Now, for me it was hard making that connection without knowing the word of God first. I was attending a church in my childhood and I just did not understand their teachings, I went to the Bible and read about Jesus, the God that they were preaching and there was one thing that they were saying that I felt contradicted with what the Word was saying. I then asked one of the elders in the church about it and her explanation just didn’t sit well with me. And so, in every church that I went to after that, I made sure to ask the same question until I found a church that gave me the answer that I was searching for. I have since changed churches 3 times, not because there was necessarily something wrong with the church but because as I grew older I had different needs that my previous churches did not fulfill. So, I would advise every believer to have a foundation of the Word of God and a personal relationship with Christ before allowing anyone else to dictate what that is.

Also, know that as you participate and move within the church, you will uncover things that you may not find appealing or people that you may clash with but that should not be the cause of you moving from your church and your anointing within that church. Trust me, there will be things that rub you the wrong way but the foundation of your faith should be your relationship with God and your continuous reading of the word of God, so that you can put some things forward in prayer or find the wisdom to deal with certain people or even change things within yourself for the betterment of the mission of the church.

In the end, your reason for going to church will determine the experiences that you will have at the church. If you are a blessing seeking person then you will go to churches that might end up taking advantage of you and making you do unimaginable things for the sake of a blessing. Rather, search for God and know Him for yourself first and then look for Him in the church. And remember that Jesus never made a single person in the Bible pay for the miracle that He performed for them.

Cheers.