Temporary
–adjective
| 1. | lasting, existing, serving, or effective for a time only; not permanent: a temporary need; a temporary job. |
I read this blog post about the idea of “graduating Church”, and it got me thinking. The author, of whom I can’t remember because I forgot to bookmark the link ( so if it was you, great post). Made a statement of what if the church ran like a 4 year program. Much like higher education, starting as freshmen and graduating after your senior year. Once you get baptized you officially start the freshmen program. It may not be all that practical, but it’s the idea that’s important.
What I found so interesting is the idea that this would completely change the way church teaches people. It would force churches to teach Christ followers how to feed themselves, how to become a self-sufficient christian. If you knew you that each person in your church would only be there for 4 years, you wouldn’t have time to preach about how God wants you to take the sex challenge with your spouse. And there would be no need to start a building campaign, because these church members are not lifers, their temporary!
This idea has lead me down the path of thinking, I shouldn’t have to feel bad because I don’t go to church. Who ever said it was suppose to be a permanently mandatory event?
After all most people don’t leave church because they can’t get up on Sunday mornings, or they don’t really love Jesus. It’s because at some point the church jumps the shark and becomes a religious corporation, or a social club, or something else it was never meant to be.
It also has me thinking this thought. What if people leaving the church is a sign they have out grown church? Is that even possible, or at least that church. More and more popular Christians are admitting they don’t go to church, at least not in the weekly traditional sense. People like Eugene Peterson, Frank viola, George Barna, John Eldredge, and Wayne Jacobsen. Does that make them less of a christian? I don’t think so ….. but that’s the impression the church gave about people when I attended weekly.
What if leaving the church is a sign of maturity? the way children grow up and leave their parents. I think most people need church at some point in their life. I certainly did, made a lot of friends, learned a lot about myself, and created a good foundation for my moral character, it helped me create the husband and father I am today.
I didn’t start having problems until I decided this church thing was permanent, and I tried to become a cog in the ministry system. By over extending my stay in the church, I created more physiological and spiritual damage then I could handle. Until I spiritually self imploded.
maybe we aren’t meant to be professional church goers. Maybe when we make going to church our religion, we replace Jesus with obligations, and in the end take a spiritual detour that ends up getting us more hurt then when we started.
I think each person has a time when it’s right for them to leave the church. It’s up to the individual to be sensitive enough to hear the call to move on. After all going to college isn’t permanent,it’s temporary. It’s about giving you enough education to form a solid foundation, to stir up a passion and encourage a life of learning.
