“Churching”
Hebrews 10:23-25
We don’t need no neglecting to do “Churching*
*Full disclosure: In our blogs we have a soft rule to write first before hearing the sermon words on our topic of the week…Today, I broke our rule. As we drove home from an overnight in Seattle, Lisa and I listened to Doug’s words on Being Church. Hence the double negative pirating of Pink Floyd and a lot of additional ambiguous notions about my own thoughts and plagiarizing the words and contemplations of Doug.
In Doug’s Sermon he coined the term, “churching.” Doug, explained the Greek word from Hebrews, Episunagoge, means Assembling or Gathering; spending time with others. It is my nature, to immediately become anxious, guilty, overwhelmed and try to “turn off” any extrovert who begins a message encouraging more fellowship with people. I am an introvert living in a country that leans extrovert. My job and family require many extroverted skills that I poorly conjure and fake during the week. Sometimes, even just walking down the street, minding my own business, people will smile at me and say, “Hi!” Can you imagine the hate someone must carry in their heart to say, “Hi” to a stranger. 😊 I prefer a quiet run along the interurban trail, a book, an empty beach, a room with no one in it…
I placed my finger on the YouTube pause button, thinking, ‘I will feel a lot less shame, if I listen to the last few innings of the mariner’s game than if I listen to someone tell me I should spend more time with people.’ I listened on because I trust Doug. I pushed through because I DO believe in healthy relationships. I know that the best, fullest, richest life (as exhausting as it may be) occurs when we gather. We have examples all around of the health, wisdom, healing, growth, strength, comfort, challenge, and significance that manifest in community. So… I pushed through and kept listening. What I heard was not no extroverts message, but rather a message for all the beloved of Christ.
The Author of Hebrews writes, in 10:25, about “meeting together”, but it is important to read the whole of chapter 10 before coming to this verse. If you are at all like me, you might need to hear the encouragement and promises of the prior verses before you come to the reminder to gather. Please stop and read 10:1-23. You might need to hear:
10:10 “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all…”
10:19-20 "…since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary …. by the new and living way which he opened for us…"
10:22-23 "let us draw near with a true heart…sprinkled clean from an evil conscience…for he who promised is faithful…"
I hear this and my anxious introverted heart is ready to gather. My experience with “churching has been the following: Lisa/our marriage, a group of friends we call ourselves 40 BC, three men I meet with twice annually in a steel industry small group, a running partner, and my 50th Birthday. Additionally, the people of FPC have been church for me, but sometimes in a non-traditional way. For years it was a Wed morning bible study with a group of men, it is sometimes coffee with Todd Fisher, zoom with Bill Palmer, or standing far from the bustle of Café Pres and talking to Erik Meyer on the side.
I believe there is a common denominator for churching to work for me.
Time. I need a lot of time. I need to build a relationship slowly. I want depth and trust…
Truth / Honesty. Authenticity both from me and from other “churchers”. I want to be able to reveal who I am and be known, I want to know other gatherers.
Commitment / Grace. I want to be known if I know I will be afforded Grace, not be judged.
Sacrifice. This is the “Encourager” part, as I see it. Stand with me. For all that I am and am not; walk in it with me.
A few years ago, Lisa organized a surprise 50th birthday party for me. I knew we were having a small gathering, with a couple of friends, but suddenly people started showing up at our door. Friends and family trickled into our home until many of the beloved of my life sat together in our living room. The gathering was most definitely CHURCHING. People told stories and reflected upon my inspiring sense of fashion, impeccable personal hygiene, knack for being on time, angelic teenage years and my great good fortune to have stumbled upon Lisa. The relationships were rich and authentic. I laughed, cried, and felt so much love. It was because of TIME, AUTHENTICITY, GRACE, and SACRIFICE imperfectly lived out, but perfectly sanctified, that made the gathering so sublime.
This kind of relationship is probably too much to ask. I know I’m challenged to gather in this way; to be these things for my community. I regularly fail at all four. However, I go back to the early verses of Hebrews chapter 10 and I see that the pressure is off. God has prepared the way for us to gather. This is not a gathering for extroverts or introverts. It is not a gathering for good people who have achieved something or done something to perform at the assembly. All that we need to assemble comes from the grace of our loving God. God Sanctified, God cleaned our hearts from an evil conscience, God’s faithfulness gives us hope without wavering. All the preparation for “churching” is provided by our loving Father. We DO need no neglecting to do “churching!”