#104 - Should I Go to Church? (Part 1) {Reflections}

Ever wonder why church still matters in our digital age? This episode tackles the profound human need for meaning and belonging that church uniquely addresses. Through personal stories and thoughtful reflection, we explore how the church provides a tether to something larger than ourselves in an increasingly disconnected world.

The Latin word for religion—"religio"—literally means "to be tethered to something." What are you anchored to? We all seek something to frame our understanding of life, and church offers a deeper story that can provide direction and purpose. Beyond philosophical frameworks, church reminds us we're not alone. Despite our hyper-connected world, loneliness has reached epidemic proportions, and the weekly rhythm of gathering creates community that sociologists link to increased resilience and better mental health.

What makes church particularly valuable today is its embodied nature. While online connections serve important purposes, they cannot replicate physical presence. Standing beside someone fundamentally different from yourself—someone who might vote differently or live differently—and sharing bread creates a solidarity that transcends our divisions. These shared rituals actually synchronize our physiological responses, creating bonding at a biological level that screens simply cannot replicate. As "third spaces" beyond home and work continue disappearing, church offers a dedicated space centered around collective experience rather than individual consumption.

Ready to explore what church might offer you? Not all congregations are the same—finding a community that resonates with your values while challenging you in healthy ways might require some exploration. Join us next episode as we continue our three-part series on why church matters more than ever. And if you're in the Elk River area, we'd love to welcome you at Central—whether at our 8:30 liturgical gathering or 10:00 modern service. Share this episode with someone who might benefit from finding their own community of meaning and belonging.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
What is up everybody?
Hey, ryan here and welcome toour Reflections podcast.
Hey, a good friend of mine wewere actually friends growing up
and he lives in Texas, now Ilive in Minnesota.
But he posted on his Facebookpage not that long ago but
something like hey, back in 2002, I began going to this church
In 2005, I got confirmed in thischurch and I've been going ever
since.
My family has been going, mykids are going to the youth

(00:38):
program.
He goes, and in every way it'smade my life a lot better.
Every way it's made my life alot better.
And he said I just encourageall of you to go to church.
Like that's awesome.
Obviously, I work in a church.
Many of you know I'm a pastor.
So it sort of soundsself-serving if I were to say,
hey, go to church, it's good foryou, but it's cool to be my
friend, to read about him, youknow, to read him say on his
Facebook post Like I began goingand it kind of has changed my

(00:59):
life in these incredibly helpfuland beneficial ways and you all
should go.
So I thought why not do apodcast?
And actually now it's growninto a three-part podcast.
I think about why I think it'sactually good to go to church.
I would agree with him.
I think there's many goodreasons that you should go to
church, and I would even maybereframe it and say why you

(01:21):
should be a part of a churchcommunity.
Because going to church is, Imean, the church is not the
building.
Because going to church is, Imean, the church is not the
building, the church is thepeople, of course, but there's
also something about going to aweekly rhythm of worship and
gathering and that kind of thing.
So I don't get too hung up onthe language, other than I
really want you to know thatchurch is like being a part of a
community, a movement, a way oflife.
But here's why I think youshould go to church.
I'm going to give you threereasons, so each episode will be

(01:46):
one reason, and here's why Ithink this is also important.
We live in a time and a placewhere many people are trusting
institutions less and less,church being one of them, and
for good reason.
I'm not going to argue againstsome of those really good
reasons, but many people seemless and less interested in God
or the ethereal, or thetranscendent or ancient texts,
and maybe more interested inlike, doing whatever feels good,

(02:08):
or like self-focused living, orall the isms like hedonism,
humanism, epicureanism andnihilism.
They're all out there and manypeople are just gravitating
towards some of these movementsor philosophies.
And we've been told again andagain look at God and the
spirits and angels and demonsand miracles.
These are archaic ways ofthinking and they're outdated

(02:29):
and they're, you know, forchildren or for the ancient, you
know, sort of people who liveda long time ago and didn't know
science, and all that mattersnow is what we can see and touch
and taste and measure andexamine with a microscope and in
a laboratory.
And so going to church, it sortof seems outdated or ridiculous
in many places and in manyparts of the world.
I get it, but I, I still wantto make the argument.

(02:51):
I think that being a part of achurch community is good, it's
good for you, it's good for me,and I have some reasons why I
think you should get involved inone.
Now, listen, not all churchesare created equal.
There are some bad churches, Iget it.
There are some churches doingsome not great things, some that
are not full of life, thatdon't have little kids, that are

(03:11):
just going the wrong direction,and I get it, and so you might
have to try on a few.
If you take me up on this sortof challenge, try out a few and
see what fits.
Not as a consumer, I mean.
You don't want to go in thereand be like, well, this one was
too big, that one was too small,the music wasn't my.
Not as a consumer, but morelike you're dating and like, hey
, are you going the samedirection I'm going?
Is there resonance here?
Are we living in the same kindof groove and is it challenging?

(03:35):
And then also so I find comfort.
It's like this mixed bag of,like you know, consolation and
also like challenge.
I love that.
So you know they're not all thesame and some are not good.
I'm just going to tell you.
But find one that brings life,I would argue.
Okay.
So I got to get to it.
Number one the number one reasonwhy I think and these aren't in
any particular order, but theone I have marked as number one

(03:57):
the reason you should go tochurch is because it sort of
meets the human longing formeaning and belonging.
I think deep down, all of ushave this deep longing.
It's a human longing formeaning, direction and also
belonging.
I kind of meld these twotogether.
But the word religion, actuallyin the Latin the word religion
is religio, which literally itcould be rendered to be tethered

(04:19):
to something.
So tied to something.
I think of a boat that's out inthe ocean, tethered to nothing,
just drifts and the waves sortof take it wherever it goes.
It's not tied to anything.
And so, look, make no mistake,all of us are tethered to
something.
I guess maybe some of us arenot tethered at all, we're just
sort of out there drifting, butwe all tether ourselves to
something.
So you could ask what am Itethered to?
What is my religion?

(04:40):
I think we're all religiousabout some things and in fact
today politics has become thenew religion.
But like what is it that you'retethered?
You want, what are you after,what are you chasing?
It's in John 1, 38, verse 38.
It's this deeply existentialquestion Like what are you

(05:01):
seeking?
What do you want, what are youafter?
Because we're all seeking aftersomething.
We all are tethering ourselvesto something.
And the cool thing in theJewish tradition, the word
seeking, in the Hebrew it's theword derash, which is the root
word of the Hebrew word midrashor midrash and midrash is this
method of interpretation, it's away of interpreting the world,

(05:22):
and so it's sort of this play onwords.
Like Jesus could be sayingsomething like hey, what midrash
are you pursuing, fellas?
What interpretation of life areyou seeking?
Are you after?
How are you trying, how do youwant to frame your world, your
life?
See, church a good one canprovide a deep story to which
you can tether your life, or youcan shape your life around.

(05:44):
That can frame life, that canprovide an interpretation of
life that is life-giving andvibrant and healthy.
And, more than anything, whatwe seek in life, the deep
seeking, the deep thing we'reafter, it's not shallow things,
because those don't alwayssatisfy us, but something deeper
.
If you keep going deeper, 10,11 layers down, what we long for
is meaning and direction inlife, to be a part of a story

(06:08):
bigger than ourselves, andconnection to other human beings
in the same kind of boat, andchurch can offer a place, a
people, a community, a way toexplore all of this.
See, church is also aboutremembering that, look, you and
I are not alone as much as wefeel alone or lonely sometimes,
even in our extremelyhyper-connected world.

(06:29):
We feel alone, but church is areminder that we are not alone
and gathering weekly kind ofkeeps us rooted in this bigger
story, bigger than our ownhustle and bustle and stress and
nine-to-fiveness and chaos, andit reminds us, hey, there's a
bigger thing happening here.
It helps us frame the world andremind us that we are not alone
.
So, whatever's happening inlife, hey, we're in it together.

(06:50):
And we gather once a week, wesing some songs, we pray
together, we share resourcestogether, we confess our sins
together, we share a mealtogether, and this gathering
then spills over into the restof our life and our work and our
week and our school.
And the point of life, or thepoint rather, the point of
gathering, you know, everySunday morning or whenever you
gather, is like hey, now leavethis place and go out and and

(07:12):
bless the world.
You know that's the whole pointof it.
And so being together in someways on a Sunday morning and
gathering and doing all thesethings in unison together is
actually quite wonderful.
I mean COVID taught me thislike being separated alone was
extremely difficult for all theobvious reasons.
And church can provide thiscommunity a gathering of people

(07:33):
that are looking to do the samething that you are I'll say this
too like we've had thisdisappearance of the third space
.
You know, there's these twospaces that many of us live in
work, home or school and homeand that third space like a
movie theater or coffee shop.
These are disappearing andthose were spaces where you can
gather and commune together andbe together and have

(07:54):
conversation and and have food,food together and have fun and
play games and explore ideas,and those spaces are generally
right now disappearing and sothe church can be a wonderful it
always has been a wonderfulthird space and you know,
sociologists show that peoplewho gather regularly in
communities like this of meaning, of deeper meaning, they have

(08:15):
higher levels of resilience.
These people lower levels ofloneliness and a better mental
health overall, and they canprovide relationships and
especially for kids and familieswho need support and a system
like that to help them along thepath.
Church can provide this and Ilove it because it's actually an
embodied presence.
Like screens we all have themand I've got mine and podcasts

(08:36):
and movies and watching churchonline.
It's great, but you cannotdigitize presence.
You can't.
The medium is always themessage and so it doesn't
provide an embodied presence.
You know screens and movies andpodcasts and even watching
church online, but standing nextto somebody flesh and bones and
blood who's nothing like you,baby, who voted for a different

(08:58):
person, and passing bread tothem and sharing the wine,
praying for the sick.
These are physical acts thatcreate some kind of solidarity,
community, sameness.
I love it, and sociologistsargue that these rituals that we
share which I'll get to nextpodcast they literally help us.
They sink our brainwaves andour heart rates and there's

(09:20):
something like this emergentphenomenon that comes out, that
creates this bonding at aphysiological level.
It's incredible, and so that'swhy you should go.
Number one the church providesthis tether to a larger story,
one of meaning and direction.
It also reminds us that we arenot alone, because we're an
embodied gathering of people inpresence, in person.

(09:40):
Together, we're part of acollective, and that is good for
our health in so many ways.
Okay, stay tuned for number twoLove you guys, peace.
Hey, if you enjoy this show,I'd love to have you share it
with some friends.
And don't forget, you arealways welcome to join us in
person at Central in Elk Riverat 830, which is our liturgical

(10:02):
gathering, or at 10 o'clock, ourmodern gathering, or you can
check us out online atclcelkriverorg.
Peace.