Is that even a thing? churching? If defined as the act of going to church, churching has been taking place for centuries. But I have to think that churching looks very different today than it did in era’s past. Actually, my experience in attending church today is markedly different from the experiences I had as a child going to church. Perhaps this could be explained by the fact that times change and the church has changed along with the “times” or along with current culture.

The music certainly has changed. I remember singing from hymnals accompanied by piano and organ. Nothing was plugged in or amplified. Now we sing from a large screen up front, drowned out by drums and electric guitars. Fog fills the air and lights are flashing. Oh, I forgot to mention that it’s dark, like a movie theater. That’s why the stage lights are so dramatic.

No wonder the pastor’s words stuck with me when he said from the pulpit on a recent Sunday morning, “this is not an entertainment center. You want entertainment, go to AMC or a football stadium etc.” (this church service was taking place in daylight, no fog, no stage lights, no band) His words got me to thinking about myself, about my own attitude when I go to church. Do I attend church on a Sunday morning as a passive spectator, expecting to be entertained? Do I come as a consumer, shopping around in search of the “best experience” that meets my criteria or needs.

Or do I show up as an active participant, ready to engage in worship and in learning from the hearing of God’s word? Do I show up desiring to serve or expecting to be served?

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Do I come to give or to receive?

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” (Acts 20:35)

All good questions I would do well to ask myself. What does God’s word say about “churching”?

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.” (Psalm 96:8-9)

“Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool -” (Psalm 132:7)

“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. . . . Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” (Psalm 100:2 & 4)

These verses give me some clues as to what might be involved in the activity of “churching.” I am to come into His presence with “joyful songs.” I am to “bring an offering”, I am to “give thanks to Him and praise His name.” I am to worship God and give Him His due – “the glory due His name.” I am to do this in community with others. I am told “not to give up meeting together.”

So maybe the purpose of “churching” is to meet with others and to meet with God – both simultaneously? King David said –

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ ” (Psalm 122:1)

In fact, at that time, God’s gift of His Holy Spirit hadn’t been given to everyone, only to selected prophets such as Isaiah or kings such as David. The Israelites made a tabernacle to house God’s presence during the years they wandered in the desert. Later, King Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem to house God’s presence. In both instances, something remarkable took place.

“Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34-35)

“When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled His temple.” (1 Kings 810-11)

God showed up! God showed up so much that He filled the tabernacle in the desert and later, He filled the temple in Jerusalem too! God wanted to meet with His people then. God still wants to meet with people today. But today things are a little different. Then, God’s holy presence filled the building that human hands had built for Him. Today God’s Holy Spirit presence fills a temple not built by human hands, but by Himself – individual people, created in His own image – that’s you and me, that’s anyone who invites God’s presence into their hearts and lives. God’s word confirms this truth –

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Jesus told the woman at the well that “churching” was going to be different than it had been in the past.

“Jesus declared, ‘Believe Me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. . . . Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.’ ” (John 4:21-24)

So location wasn’t going to be the important part of worship anymore. Sounds like what I was taught as a child – that “church” isn’t the building, it’s the people. Jesus confirmed this when He said –

“For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

I like the translation which says, “there am I in the midst of them.”

It is both exciting and comforting to realize that through His omnipresence, Jesus is right there in the middle of things when we come together to worship God, to pray, to sing, to thank Him, to give to Him, to serve Him, to hear His word proclaimed and taught, to repent, to confess, to encourage each other, to bear each other’s burdens, to take communion together – “churching” involves much more than what any particular culture attempts to reduce it to at any point in history.

Governments and civilizations have tried to interfere with and to eradicate true churching over the centuries. But they have not succeeded. Today, “churching” in China may take place on the “down-low” so to speak, BUT make no mistake, “churching” is going on big time in China! It is taking place secretly, in homes, in small numbers – but “where two or three are gathered” – God is right there in the middle of it all. And that’s where God should be – in the middle, at the center of our “churching” experience. We come together to meet with God and give Him glory.

In our western culture, true “churching” may not be as visible as the mega-church, very public production we have come to call “church”, but it is happening, nonetheless. Every time two or three gather together to read God’s word, to pray, to serve, to sing, to worship – God is in the midst and “churching” is going on! Which brings me to a further description of “churching” from God’s word –

” ‘It is written,’ He said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’ ” (Matthew 21:13)

Prayer – that’s “churching” in action! Calling on the name of the Living God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe – that’s what God said we should be doing when we enter into His house, His gates, His courts – as the psalmists called them. Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple saying His Father’s house was for prayer, not commerce. I’m thinking the pastor who said “this is not an entertainment center” would concur that amusement is what the world offers. Something different is needed from the church – truth, hope, redemption, forgiveness, restoration, reconciliation, healing . . .

The true church is more akin to a hospital than an entertainment center. After all, it was Jesus who said –

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)

We are all in need of healing, we are all walking wounded in this world. I know I need to be bandaged up daily from the hurts and hurdles that inflict pain and suffering on my soul and my spirit. With broken hearts and shattered dreams, we limp through life apart from our Creator, when all the while healing and abundance awaits us. Jesus said –

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

That’s the truth. That’s the Good News. Abundance awaits. The mission of the church is to proclaim God’s truth – truth which will set the captives (us, you and me) free. True worship, true “churching” can take place anywhere, anytime because, as Jesus told the woman at the well, “God is Spirit and true worshipers are to worship Him in spirit and in truth.” The result of true “churching”?

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Matthew 11:5)

true churching says – ” ‘Come now, let us reason together’, says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’ ” (Isaiah 1:18)

not entertainment, not commerce – “churching” is not a spectator sport. It is the living out of all Christ has called me to, shared with other believers also called to this higher calling.

“you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)

that’s churching at its best!

sincerely, Grace Day