Christians and garages

Yesterday I saw a bumper sticker that caught my attention. "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than being in a garage makes you a car." OK. I'll buy that. The sticker was on a vehicle that I might assume belongs to someone who has a problem with Christians, based on the other stickers around it. That's OK, too. I'm a Christian and I have a problem with Christians (including myself) from time to time. At its core, I cannot disagree with the message of the sticker. Anyone could walk into a church building or a worship service and not have to be a Christian. One does not belong simply because of that. I've known people who have attended worship services much of their lives and never felt close to God or the community in which they were participating. I'll also (tongue in cheek) make the case that one does not have to be a car to be in a garage. If that were the case, here in New Mexico many of us would have small, squarish cars stuffed with junk stacked to our ceilings in our garages. Sometimes people confuse the structure called "the church" with what really is the Church. A Church is not a building, it is a group of believers that are committed to meeting to worship God and support one another. The true framework of Church is commitment and action, not bricks and mortar. The true foundation of Church is Jesus, who we call Christ, not a slab of concrete. If one is not committed to the community and willing to act on it, then, perhaps, in their heart of hearts the person is not really a Christian yet, but that is between them and God, and it is not for any human to judge. So, what makes a person a Christian? C.S. Lewis in his book "The Screwtape Letters" (ch.23) says that the ancient Christians "were converted by a single historical fact (the Resurrection) and a single theological doctrine (the Redemption) operating on a sense of sin they already had." The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, believed it was about a commitment to "flee the wrath to come." I would simply say in more modern language that what makes a person a Christian is having faith that God loves us so much that he sent Jesus to save us from ourselves and restore our eternal relationship with God, his (and our) Father. Why do we need to be saved from ourselves, you may wonder? I would hope that most of us could admit that we (far too regularly) do things that are counterproductive to building relationships and are, frankly, worthy of regret. That word "sin" really is a churchy word for anything that we do that breaks or degrades our relationships with God and others. When you consider it that way, we are full of it, aren't we? What's the big deal about church, then? If "going to church" doesn't make you a Christian, then why bother? Well, I believe that it is a response to ones commitment to be in relationship. In some ways it's similar to the reason a person in recovery goes to their meetings. We realize that we have been given a gift (redemption from sin for the Christian, or being sober for the person in recovery). We are celebrating the change in our lives with people who understand why we celebrate. We are practicing our gift with people who can help us to do it even better because they, too, are practicing. If it is a requirement to "go to church," then it is a practical one that recognizes that sin loves a relational vacuum and that we all need help to walk the straight path. Without being part of a community of believers, we will delude ourselves into believing that we don't need others, and that we know best for ourselves. The Christian knows this is a delusion. In the end, we occasionally put our cars in the garage to keep them safe, to keep them protected from the elements, or to get them fixed. Christians are a part of a church so they can worship God together and help each other to be all that God made them to be. Neither cars, nor Christians are much good to anyone if all they do is stay holed up in their safe place. So get what you need in your church, folks, and get back out into the world and love your neighbors. There are plenty of people who have no good idea what it is we are up to.