There was a period of my life for about 8 years when I just simply did not enjoy going to church. It was when I lived in Searcy and Memphis during college and grad school. I was away from my home church where I’d grown up all my life and bounced around to a few difference congregations but I never found one I during that time that I felt was “home.” Sure, I went to church every Sunday, but I did not enjoy it. I enjoyed seeing my friends, but I thought sermons were boring, I only liked a few songs, and didn’t feel like I got anything out of it.
After my wife and I had been married for a few months, we were both unhappy with the church we were attending in Memphis and we really felt out of the loop with the young adult class we went to on Sunday mornings. After complaining about not having any friends at church for a few Sundays in a row, my wife eventually won me over and convinced me that we needed to join one of our Sunday morning class’ small groups that met Sunday nights.
The Difference …
The difference between how we used to feel before joining a small group and how we felt after joining one was night and day! Almost immediately we got closer to the people from our class who were in our small group, and that pretty quickly led to closer relationships with several others in the class as well.
After about six months to a year of getting more involved in our small group and getting to know the people in our Sunday morning class, I think I finally came to my senses about how I had been “going to church wrong” for so many years. You see, during that whole time I was unhappy with church—still attending, but miserable. I went to church every Sunday morning with a focus of trying to get out of church what I wanted: a home run sermon every week, my favorite songs, that sort of thing.
Instead, I started going to church with the purpose of uplifting, encouraging, and blessing others. Church attendance wasn’t about me – it was about worshipping God and blessing others at the same time.
When I began to treat church as an opportunity to bless others, my whole attitude about church eventually changed. My goal wasn’t to get my spiritual fulfillment – I had to learn the difficult but valuable lesson that if I could reach out and encourage or bless someone else, God would be faithful and would use someone to do the same for me. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hope for or expect some spiritual fulfillment when we gather with our brothers and sisters on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights; it means our focus should not be inward but upward and outward – to the very people God has placed in our lives to minister to. It’s not always easy, but even the hurting and those in need of spiritual uplifting can still be a blessing to others – especially when they sit and mourn and comfort those who mourn and need to be comforted.
Going to Church Right …
If there’s a way to “go to church right,” it certainly isn’t with a “Me first” attitude like I had for so many years. It takes a step of faith to trust that God will provide for us, like He says He will, when we do His will by blessing and serving others. I hope this has encouraged you to look for ways you can be a blessing to your church family.
The LORD bless you and keep you (Numbers 6:24-26),
– Kevin