Why I left Church - a follow up

In my post about why I have left church, I addressed some of the issues that I have faced personally. But I haven't left it at that. My goal was to try and also give some sort of remedy. In the last few days since I posted that, I have had people asking me a lot of questions. Some of them are easy to address, and some of them are very difficult to address. Ultimately, when you ask a question about something that seems like the whole Bible has something to say about, I'm not sure I can give a quick 1-sentence answer. But this is something that I have noticed is lacking in the questions: a reality of eternity.

Many of the questions have to do with what church would look like outside of church. Some are asking about the performance, but not everyone. A lot of the questions are more geared toward: if you don't meet together weekly, how do you function? This isn't so much a performance question as it is pertaining to questions about lifestyle, submission to authority, confession, sharing faith, evangelism, and all of the important aspects of Christian life that are difficult to understand outside of the church building context.

Let me expand a bit of what I see missing in these questions. The first century church seems to speak unwaveringly about a soon coming return of Christ. That actually might even be their most prominent topic of discussion in the New Testament epistles. There were a lot of questions in regards to church service and how we live out our lives daily, but all of the answers to those questions seem to be a way in which the writer refers back to Jesus is coming back.

I am reading a book with my wife called "True Fellowship." The author in the sixth chapter has taken up the question of apostolic lifestyle. What kind of lifestyle did the apostles have, and what was their reason for having such a lifestyle? He links their reason to their full expectation of a soon returning Jesus in order to establish His Kingdom on earth, in which we will then be partakers. Some will be found worthy of ruling over 10 cities, some over 5, and some over 2. Eternal rewards and the understanding that Jesus returns directly after great suffering and tribulation seemed to dictate the way that these people lived.

The chapter started with a statement that declares apostolic poverty is a necessity. Where do we hear such things? Why would poverty be a necessity? He later addresses that the first century Church sold their possessions and gave to the poor. Why? It was because they knew that Jesus was coming back soon, so why do we need these things? The chapter then continued in expressing all of the ways that we have been all too casual and living in luxurious manner. Our retirement funds, pension plans, "eating out," needing coffee in the morning, church budgets, hopes of building the ministry, million dollar building projects, etc are all connected to a "scoffing" at the Lord's coming. We can scoff without using words.

In our daily lives, how much is lived in an expectation that the end is soon coming? How many of our choices are predicated upon a belief that I might not live to old age? The answer to those questions should be quite revealing. If we put trust in our retirement and desire to build for ourselves a "good life," are we really believing that Jesus will return? We might subscribe to the doctrine, but how much are we truly believing that if we aren't living like we believe that?

This was a challenge for me. It caught me off guard. In a sense, I am living like I expect Jesus to return, but in another sense, I'm one of those people writing up articles about why I left church. Is that even important? Are there more important things to be occupied with?

When being asked about what it would mean to be Christian outside of church, and how are we supposed to meet together, and what about all of the details, I find that the reality of Jesus' second advent is not present. Of course, I don't expect people to ask what we're doing to prepare, but I would at least expect that if this was a living reality in our confession that the questions would be phrased and posted in a different manner. How many of the questions that come to mind are truly important, and how many are simply being asked because we want to perpetuate our Sunday culture?

This isn't an in depth blog post or even an indictment. As I've been reflecting, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts. I do have answers to the questions raised, but so many times I feel like to address the question is to somehow cheapen my stance. When asked "What is truth," Jesus said nothing in response to Pilate. That moment of silence answered the question better than any exposition could. Pilate is standing before the very man that said, "I am the Truth," and if Pilate cannot see it before his eyes, then he cannot see it at all. In the same way, I almost feel as though some of these questions and statements are merely ploys to say that there is no answer, or there is some sort of faulty ground, so that the questioner can then justify every point that I brought up.

I could be wrong, and I know that some are honestly asking. I just hope that this is not one of those times where truth is standing right in front of people, and they are so despising toward it that they look for any out they can take. The road that I have chosen to promote and strive toward is a difficult road. Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one. Is that a reality that we can truly obtain? Can we truly be one in that same kind of relationship together? If so, I want it. Enough with our talk, enough with our egos, enough with everything that hinders us from achieving so great a calling. If it is even possible to live as Christ as lived, then I want that. If it is not possible, then the Bible is a lie. I see no way of obtaining this without community.

By community, I mean a group of believers that meet together frequently - if not daily - to share life together and pour into one another the reality of Christ that has been manifest to us. What does that look like? I can't give a formula. All I can say is that it is predicated upon the blessed hope of a soon coming Jesus to restore all things. Every aspect of life and interaction is first sought out with His Kingdom in mind. If my location is too far away to be able to frequently meet with other believers, then I'll move. If employment (which I don't have, but just to make the point) takes up much of my daily life so that I can't spend time with the brethren, then I either cut back my hours or quit my job. The focus is upon His soon coming, and His Kingdom - never upon this life and how do I survive?

About Missionaries

I was asked recently about missionaries. Specifically, “What is your thinking when it comes to missionaries? It is churches that send missionaries out and help support them in ways that they need. How would you send out missionaries in your community?” It’s a great question, and it got me thinking about it. To be quite honest, I just assumed that evangelism and missionary work was included in community living. If you aren’t affecting the society/people around you, wherever you are, then what on earth are you doing?

But to ask it directly made me to realize that I don’t know that I have it as nailed down as tight as I thought. So here is my response, which I couldn’t seem to make small enough to post on that Facebook comment…

When dealing with evangelism and missionaries I think we’re dealing with subjects deeper than sending them and supporting them. What was it that gave Paul his authority and power? Everywhere he went there was either riot or revival. The disciples after being sent out from Jesus came back and proclaimed miracles and demonic deliverance in such a way to make even the Charismatic/Pentecostal denominations seem anemic in comparison. Notice in Acts 13:1-5 and when Jesus sends out His disciples that they are sent in 2 - never alone. There is still community even when they are sent out of community. Even in being sent out, they know where they are sent from is still their community, and they are welcome home at any time.

Paul seems to indicate that even when he is out abroad that he had hopes to go back to such and such church where he could reconnect with “home.”  I guess what I’m feeling for is that maybe missionary work isn’t merely winning the lost or going to places that haven’t heard the gospel? What if missionary work is something more like apostleship in that you are sent by the word of God to proclaim the message God gives you to proclaim to the people God sends you to (Romans 10:14-15)? Maybe it is the sent word that causes faith upon hearing, because it is hearing the very word of God.

Lets not pass that so soon. What makes this word so powerful? It actually gives faith to the hearer, gives liberty to the captive, and/or causes uproar. The man who is sent out by the will of the Lord is sealed with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. I think that maybe what actually warrants that power and authority is found in the context of community. What exactly do I mean by that word?

Community is the denial of self. It is a relation with other believers that displays the mystery of the Godhead. As Jesus was one with the Father, so are we one with each other. We sacrificially give self unreservedly for the benefit of the other believers without expectation of recompense. Because I sacrificially give myself, and my wife sacrificially gives herself, somehow we pour into each other in a way that neither of us are empty, and neither of us are weak, but we somehow strengthen each other. This is the mystery displayed in that Jesus gave Himself unreservedly for the Father, and the Father selflessly promoted the Son (gave Him a name above every name – including His own name). 

When we can display that kind of reality, of denying self for the benefit and promotion of the others in the community, and by the power of the Spirit we are transformed into being one as God is one, it is precisely at that point that we have now reached “community.” When a Church is able to live like that, then they have no issue with also giving to another community in another town, village, country, etc.

One of my wife and my initial thoughts with the question were about the distinction made between local and global church. Kim and I don’t think that we should make a distinction between local and global church. Paul addresses the whole city, not “local churches” in Ephesus. He does sometimes address churches that met in homes (typically at the end of the epistle). Because they are all connected as the Church, many times we read of how the church in such and such location has shown its faithfulness by sending someone to another location in support.

The reason this is important is because I want to make it clear that I am not against supporting missions groups. They’ve already been established, and if you know they do good, then by all means support them. The point, however, is that having a special offering for missions, or having a denominationally supported mission, is not enough. It takes the whole Church. If it weren’t for the saints throughout the world coming to Paul in his time of need, who knows what kind of condition he would have been in Rome? He told Timothy that everyone abandoned him. He then goes on to say that he is thankful for some who came to him.

I would like to suggest that maybe the idea of community is so central to the Christian faith that even missions work is not a different subject. Maybe the reason that the disciples in that first century had such power is because “when two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in their midst.” What if the whole framework of missions is held up by the global church as community – being one with each other as God is one – in that they are in communion with the same Spirit? Is it possible that by the togetherness that we truly display here and now with the other believers that we gather with actually affects our witness?

In conclusion to try and directly answer the question, to support a missionary as a community means to take up their burdens with them; even if we are absent physically we are together in spirit. I think that if you don’t have community, you don’t have church at all. And what can we call “church” if not an entity that is connected together by the Spirit with all brothers globally, which is displayed locally through a body that has torn down all walls of hostility to one another.

Why I Have Left "Church"

Dear "Church,"

With all of the recent articles and blog posts describing why "youth" are leaving the church, I thought it necessary for me to put down my own ideas. To be entirely honest, it was my wife who wanted to write out why it is that we have decided to leave "church" and never go back. After reading many of these related articles, she has decided that she doesn't want to write & address this 'nonsense' (in her own words), and so I'm taking the task.

In all honesty, I want to give reason to why I have left without giving any kind of hook or rude/offensive statement about church. There is absolutely nothing in me that desires to be mean or vicious, even though there have been many vicious articles written about me - since I am one of those "youth" that has left. This journey started a long time ago. I went to church, and I got burned. I think that this is true for many people that leave. Unlike many, however, I didn't leave because I got burned. I left because I realized that the system will only use and abuse, and will never allow someone like me to flourish.

How about I start with some basic thoughts? 

For someone that grows up in youth group, they are taught the same truth that they learned in the nursery. By the age of 13, they have exhausted the faith. By 16, they can lead Bible studies. By the time they are 20, they are probably youth leaders. Is this all that Christianity has to offer? When you have figured everything out, you go to seminary to learn original languages, what others have written, and maybe relearn everything that you already know? Is Christian life about relearning over and over again because humanity is too stupid to learn the first time?

But the truth is that this isn't even necessarily the reason that we are leaving. The whole thing is cheap, and it seems like what others are offering is so much more authentic... That isn’t to say that we need something more intellectually stimulating. The show must go on, but we aren't here for a show. We came to your "church" to hear reality. We came to hear the words of God. We came to hear what it is that God might be saying to this generation, but all that seems to protrude from the pulpits are "we can worship our way into heaven." Other times, we only hear a pre-packaged message. I have yet to be to one church that gives reality instead of falsity. By reality I mean a reiteration of the resurrection life. Falsity, therefore, is a life lived out of our own ability.

Generally, the objections that are being raised in these articles are fallacious. “Kids are just liberal. We didn't really let them "go to church." All they got were nursery and youth group hours. They think we're hypocritical, judgmental, and insincere. They think we're shallow. We're antagonistic to science.” The list goes on of things that really are surface issues.

These issues that people are writing only go to show the true problem. The real problem is that the articles describing how they out there who are leaving just don’t understand us who are here. It is completely the attitude. It is as though there is no problem with church as we know it, and the entire problem and blame lies on they youth. They are perverts and desire materialism and carnal pleasures. They want their gay friends to come and feel comfortable. They want to live like hellions and still have heaven. They want, they want, they want.

The real issue is the very core of what we call church. The system itself does not allow for truth. There is a remnant Church that has ever and always been present, but the vast majority of Christian "fellowship" is really only there as religious exercise. We don't need "hipper" worship, or more powerful sermons, or to be able to answer difficult questions. We need reality. We lack honesty and truth. The Church at the beginning met daily, going from house to house breaking bread. They lived according to their convictions. By and large, we "put faith" in our convictions, but we do not live from them.

You didn't need to tell the people in the first century to sell their possessions; they did that naturally. You didn't need to tell the people in the first century to meet daily; they did that naturally. You didn't need to tell the people in the first century to lay down their lives for their brethren; they did that naturally. The law of love that was shed abroad in their hearts caused for them to live and move and have their being in a very unique manner. Their lives were transparent before one another. Truth reigned supreme. And they engaged the culture by the reality of their lives. 

Why are the "millennials" leaving? It can only be because the "church" is seeing them go, and telling them, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." I cannot tell you how many people I have spoken with where they start by saying, "I would love to believe, but..." Too many of these articles only seem to talk about how great we are, and how those rotten kids don't understand. They call it a "lost" generation, and they really believe it. There is no point in trying to save them, they're a lost cause. The problem is not that we need to be more relevant. We need to be more authentic.

Paul said that he was crucified with Christ - it is no longer he that lives, but Christ that lives in him. The extent that we say that this is only rhetoric and playful word games is the extent that we have forfeited the faith. We have an entire Christianity that is based off of applauding Paul for his faith, but then rejecting that anyone today can possibly achieve such a state in God today. Perhaps there are simply too few who have witnessed or seen the reality of the crucified life. 

The whole of the Christian life is to be lived out of the life of God. We do not perform out of our own ability, but instead lean not on our own understanding. The beauty of Christianity is that when we lose self (Luke 17:33), we actually obtain it. The paradox is that when we forfeit self, we find self. True humanity is the marriage of spirit and flesh, male and female, Jew and Gentile, black and white, slave and free - that they be one as God is one. 

Christianity has nothing to do with "doing," and everything to do with "being." Ultimately, the reason that I have left "church" is because there is the lack of "being." All of the things that are applauded and accepted as truth are typically displayed as symbols, metaphor, and sometimes sentiment. Sometimes you can find a "church" that tries to put these things into practice, but even in these circumstances they fall short for reasons that I'll address later. 

The majority of church-ianity has only allowed and applauded far too often the religion performed out of our own ability. We have not truly died, and therefore we have not been brought to a place of resurrection. To defer to myself instead of trusting in God - in any moment - is to fall short of the glory of God. The glory of God is eminently and always a resurrection phenomenon. 

Speaking for myself, it is the lack of that glory that has caused me to leave. When we are starving for truth, and all that is given are cheap cliches and forgeries of truth, it is time to leave. 

In conclusion, I want to say that I have not left God. I have left "church" to find God. I have left "church" to find The Church. What is desired is reality. Our lack of reality and conviction in what we say we believe is true has driven the youth away. They see through our false identity. They watch as we say that we believe the Bible, but then live lives completely contrary to that Bible. It doesn't have to be something abominable. When we set up church services so that we can be done in time to go home and watch sports, we have lied to God.

God desires that we be progressing toward an ultimate end. There is a time that He desires to call upon us, as His Church, for ultimate purposes. We cannot fulfill those ultimate purposes if we are busy playing games and singing songs. If our Christianity is known by our Sunday services, then we have become apostate. But there is a reality that the youth are searching for, and I don’t believe that the fat woman has started singing yet.

In love, wishing you grace and peace,

Tommy Comer