First Newspaper Column

Here's my first column for the Anderson Independent-Mail's Faith and Values section. It ran on October 27 while I was in Cuba. Thought you might like to read it.
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I don’t go to church anymore.

That may sound shocking coming from a pastor writing a column in the “Faith and Values” section of the local newspaper. But it’s true.

I stopped going over the past year. It wasn’t a decision that I suddenly made one Sunday morning. It wasn’t a conclusion that I came to easily. My not going to church has been a result of a gradual shift in priorities and a gradual change in attitude towards one of the oldest institutions in our society.

Believe me: I know all the reasons why I should go to church. I grew up going. I know people expect me to go because it’s just what people do here in the South. I know that some churches spend large amounts of money and time and energy to make church exciting and relevant so that I will want to go.

But I stopped going to church because I began to learn something that profoundly changed my view of church: I was never supposed to go in the first place. You read that right: I was never supposed to GO to church in the first place.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am supposed to BE the church. I am to be the church no matter where I go, what day of the week it is, or who I may encounter along the way. Being the church has nothing to do with actually going to a place that we call “the church.”

It’s really all about being what Jesus told me to be: a person who loves God and loves people.

In Matthew 22 of The Bible, Jesus was having a discussion with an expert in the Jewish Law. This expert asked Jesus to answer a question that the scholars of the day frequently debated: “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus gave an answer that is both incredibly challenging and life-changing. He said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

Jesus said to love God and love people. That is how I am to be the church. Jesus did not say that the greatest commandment is to go to church so that I may fulfill my religious duty. He did not say to go to church because everyone else is going or because that is what is expected of me. Jesus said that the work of His followers is to love God and love people.

I’ve stopped going to church because I now understand that I am the church. As a Christ-follower, my mission is not confined to a building for an hour on Sunday morning. It is about caring for the lonely man at the coffee shop and feeding the hungry man on the street. It’s about helping the stranger whose car has broken down and praying with a friend who just lost his job. It’s about worshiping God in the stillness of the early morning and recognizing His hand at work throughout my day. It’s about teaching His ways through the life that I live and the words that I speak. It’s about loving Jesus and loving His people. That is my mission and that is the mission of the church because I am the church.

So where will I be Sunday morning? I will be the church with other Christ-followers who gather to worship, fellowship, study God’s Word, pray, and encourage each other. I will not go there out of obligation or duty just because it is Sunday or because the place is called a church. Remember: I don’t go to church anymore.

I will go there because I am the church. And when I leave, my mission of being the church, of loving God and loving people, will go with me wherever I go.

Jerry Chapman is the pastor of Capstone Community Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Contact him via email at jerry@capstonechurch.com.