I read an interesting article in USAToday on President Obama's process of selecting a church in Washington DC. Disclaimer Alert: I cannot imagine how hard it is to serve as president when every decision and step is evaluated and magnified by the media, including probably a million bloggers like me. I respect Mr. Obama and I pray for him often, as scripture implores us to do.
But the article still intrigued me. It seems the president has yet to choose a church in which to participate as president. As a pastor, I'm not sure I would be too eager for the president of the United States to be a participant in our local church. I'd welcome him and his family, but it would be complicated. The Obamas visited one church in January, only to be greeted by a line of church members who had waited in line three hours to greet the president. That must be a little distracting to the church's ministry and mission. So I'm not writing as a critic of the president.
Here's the sentence from the article that intrigued me the most: "So far, Obama hasn't really needed a church to call his own; he spent last Easter in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Christmas in Hawaii." The fascinating point of view of the article's unnamed author is that Christians only need church for big holidays, like Christmas and Easter. If you're out of town for the holiday, you might not need a church at all.
Now, it's not news that many people are Christmas and Easter church-goers. It is just fascinating to me to see it in print. And it misses the whole point of church. A church is a community of believers. It is a collection of people who are living out their faith in Jesus together. Christianity was never intended to be lived in isolation. It was designed by the Savior to be lived together. In fact, the scripture itself says in Hebrews 10:24-25, "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Apparently there were already Christmas and Easter church-goers in the first century. We have not changed much.
So, as we have just passed through the most remarkable of religious holidays, when we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus--the coming-back-to-life-after-death holiday--let me call you to the biblical truth: We need each other. Make it your post-Lent, post-Easter commitment to be with the church. Small groups are meeting weekly throughout the region. And the church gathers every weekend to worship our God and hear and respond to his word. Contrary to the article this weekend, we need each other all year long.