Why I Don’t Go to Church.

I don’t go to church.

That’s actually, in today’s world, kind of a cryptic remark so let me clarify and define and explain the what and why of it as best I can.  In doing so my goal is to encourage the strengthening of your soul.  It’s not for you to stop going or to start going anywhere.  It’s really to help you stop carrying burdens you do and start living in the fullness of the life that don’t.  Is that possible if you go to church?  Yes. Is it possible if you don’t? Yes.  Really, yes.  And yes, this is the question for many:  Is there spiritual life without church attendance? Can one sustain and grow a viable, healthy, active, strong spirituality without going to church? Is there life without church?

I-don’t-go-to-church. I think if I break down this sentence word by word I’ll be able to get across what I’m hoping to communicate with this post.

“I” – Background

A little background about me beginning, like the old-fashioned resume, with the most recent, relevant church history first.

2002-2008

I was the senior (lead, head, main, primary) pastor of the Foursquare church Hope Chapel Mana’olana here in Hawaii.  We began our church meeting at a nightclub in Honolulu, Pipeline Cafe, on Sunday mornings.  It was very much a clash of forces and principalities.  I still remember coming early to setup, opening the doors of the bar and watching the smoke from hundreds of cigarettes puffed the night before billowing out into the morning.  We stayed there for about a year and a half until we moved to a school cafeteria.

In 2008 I tried (emphasis on “tryyyy-ied”) to reorganize our church into small, semi-autonomous groups that met on their own with no direct oversight on my part and no fixed schedule or requirements from me other than to work together in becoming more like Christ, loving God and loving the people around us.  I moved into what management and leadership people would call a laisezze faire, or hands-off, approach to the church.  We called them home-churches and distinguished ourselves by not meeting together every weekend like most other churches around us.  We didn’t collect any offerings or tithes or special gifts.  We had no rent, bills or overhead.  We had no staff, programs or identifiable ministries.  After a year had gone by we effectively had no congregation.  I had “re-org-ed” us out of a church.

What were you thinking, Kaala?  What were your objectives?  What could possibly be such a big payoff that you would risk losing your whole church? Hold that thought because that’s what this whole thing is about.

During the year we tried to be a “home-church” church I had some difficulties with the monthly forms our denomination required because the things we were asked to measure weren’t always applicable.  Duh. The report asked for attendance numbers, income and offerings.  We didn’t track those.  It also asked for salvations and baptisms.  We sort of tracked those.  The major difficulty I had was that the things I was wanting to track weren’t being asked for in the report.  Or, at least from my perspective.  How does one measure actual spiritual growth?  How do you measure an increase in Christ-likeness?  In love?  In kindness?

I had begun my search for the forms that could track this.

And the pun there is intentional, though slightly facetious.  I really don’t think there’s a form out there with the questions and bubble answer responses that will help me score my spirituality.  However, I do believe there is a form of church, an approach to spiritual development, somewhere, and if I seek I will find.

I’m throwing out the “c” word as if its universally understood.  I might have some different-then-yours definition of church so let me jump ahead to the last word in “I-don’t-go-to-church.”

The “C” Word – Church Defined

(to be continued)