Your right, you don’t need to go to Church to be Good! by Dn. Evan Armatas
You know, wearing a collar can get you into some pretty interesting conversations. In fact, it is not out of the ordinary to get stopped by just about anyone in the most unusual of places, such as the grocery check-out line, a gas station, and even once in a restroom.
One opinion, or should I say statement, that comes up fairly often when people talk to me is one I am sure many of you have either heard, said, or thought at one time, and it goes something like this: “I don’t need to go to church to be a good person.” The truth is, if you have either said this, or thought it, you were right. You don’t need to come to church to be good a person. Sometimes, faithful attendance only makes people worse.
It may seem strange for some of you to hear a clergyman say this in a church newsletter, but it’s true. I myself am proof that the statement is true, although I am in church a lot; probably more than anyone at St. Catherine but Father Lou, I am still a sinner.
To add to this line of thinking, I have often observed that all around me there are people who are good, kind to others, and giving, and not all of them go to church, many of them do not even believe in God, and very few of them are Christians. It would appear that being a Christian does not always or automatically change one’s behavior. Why it may seem at first to be an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms, but one can actually be a bad Christian. One can be mean, vindictive, cynical, dishonest, stubborn, unscrupulous, even hateful, and still call themselves a Christian.
So what gives? Why are we in church anyway? In some Gospel passages, we are certainly asked to do some pretty incredible things, like lend money to those we know will not repay us, do good to those who treat us poorly, and love those who hate us. And there is nothing easy about any of this, especially when you consider how hard it is just to treat those who love you with respect and understanding, let alone your enemies.
So, if these things are true, why do we attend church? Do we come because we are good people, because we are righteous and worthy of admiration, and praise? Are we somehow better than those who stay at home, or better yet, spend their Sundays sleeping?
Jesus was once asked, “‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And [He] answered [those who questioned him], ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” Church, it appears, in this passage, is not for good people, but sinners, just as a hospital is for the sick. Notice the words Jesus chose to describe his work: the work of the Church, sickness, wellness, Physician.
The Church, then, is place for those who are sick and in need of a cure. It is not a courtroom, and it is not a place where the good are rewarded and patted on the back for their many good deeds, nor is it a place where the guilty are charged and sentenced. Rather, it is a place for people who are in desperate need of help and know it.
Maybe this is why so many of us do not feel like we get anything out of church; we have not realized we need help. For us, church might not be a spiritual operating room, but a place to be entertained, moved, engaged, and uplifted, instead of operated on, stitched up, and transfused, or should I say transfigured and transformed. And the last I checked surgery was never entertaining, at least not for the one on whom the surgery is being performed. .
We are in the church because we are not well, and we need the Good Physician to heal us. We even call the Great Mystery of Communion, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Medicine of Immortality. Despite knowing all of this, people are often shocked when they come to Church and find sinners. They are amazed that people are not loving and friendly.
I had the same problem with Church until a wise man once asked me, “Who was at the last supper?” I thought perhaps he was asking me a trick question, so in my head I quickly reviewed the facts, and doing a quick count, I answered “The Twelve Disciples.” “All of them?” my teacher asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice. Hesitantly, I answered, “Yes.” Looking at me intently, he asked me a more profound question: “Even Judas the Betrayer?” Again thinking I was being trapped, I replied even less sure of myself than before, “Yes, even Judas.”
At this point this wise man went onto say to me, “You mean to tell me that Jesus shared the last supper, his last supper on Earth, with his betrayer? In the heart of the greatest mystery, at the pinnacle of Jesus’ work, the Betrayer is found?” “Yes,” I stuttered. “Well,” he said, “What does that tell us about Jesus?” This time not waiting for a reply, he went onto to explain that Jesus brought a sick man, Judas, into the heart of the last supper because he still hoped to cure him.
What was the cure that Jesus administered? What was the medicine? Here, I think of the words Jesus uttered during this sacred meal, “Take eat; this is my body. . .Drink of this all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant.” Jesus gave this to Judas Himself. Amazingly, He did not give up on trying to revive His patient, even though many of us would have pronounced him dead on arrival. The truth is that we shouldn’t be surprised or shocked to find the church full of gossips and liars; this is how Jesus set it up.
Therefore, finding our way into the Kingdom, and thus finding ourselves in church, has nothing to do with being good. Rather, it starts with recognizing that we are not. Of course, recognizing we have a problem is only the first step. Jesus began his ministry on Earth with the words, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” So, entering the Kingdom begins by recognizing our brokenness—our need to be made whole again.
It happens when we understand that going to church brings us face to face with our Great Physician. It continues when we come to comprehend that the Mystery of receiving Him is by far more important than hearing something interesting, feeling good about ourselves, or spending an hour and a half entertained. Offering Christ in the mystery of communion is a perfect solution for those who are sick and need to be made well in the great hospital we call the Church.
So, those who say you don’t need to come to church to be a good person are correct, but if you desire to unite your life with Christ’s, if you think something greater than moral perfection is possible, go to church. For the goal of the Christian life is nothing short of union with God.