Why Go to Church?

Watching the news, I often fantasize that President Trump comes to our home for a one-on-one talk with me, a common citizen. I give him my views, but always add, “But you really don’t care what I think anyway.” By the way, I’ve had these fantasy conversations with other presidents, so this is not a pro or con about President Trump. Do you know the feeling, that your opinion doesn’t matter?

It doesn’t, not to the federal government and not to most of America’s 325 million citizens. Yuval Levin explains it this way. “Individualism tends to weaken mediating power centers that stand between the individual and the nation as a whole—from families to local communities (including local governments), (and) religious institutions… In their place, it strengthens individuals, on the one hand, and a central government, on the other, since such a government is most able to treat individuals equally by treating them all impersonally. For this reason, a hyper-individualist culture is likely to be governed by a hyper-centralized government, and each is likely to exacerbate the worst inclinations of the other.” (The Fractured Republic, 100)

That explains a lot, including the decline of the local church. In the faith circles in which I move, the standard reason for going to church is to hear God’s Word and receive the Sacraments. Always true, but today you can get the Word on your phone and stop by church once in a while for the sacrament. So is there any compelling reason to go to church every Sunday? I believe there are many, but here’s a new reason for our impersonal times. My church is where I am welcomed and I matter. In my church I learn from pastor and others how to live as a follower of Jesus in this impersonal world. I learn how to fulfill my duties to God and also to others.

This evening President Trump will come into my living room and talk about the southern border. Then he’ll leave, never having heard from me, big impersonal government. Sunday I’ll go to a place where I’m valued, my opinions become better informed, and where I’ll be with people who care about one another. In this day and age, there’s more reason than ever to go to church. “Traditional religion offers a direct challenge to the ethic of the age of fracture. Religious commitments command us to a mixture of responsibility, sympathy, lawfulness, and righteousness that align our wants with our duties. They help form us to be free.” (Levin, 204) 

By permission from The Meyer Minute, 1/8/2019
Rev. Dr. Dale A. Meyer, President - Concordia Seminary, St. Louis