Love Jesus, Hate Church?

The following is a video that I found on You Tube pertaining to the Hate Church idea. I started a comment on the page to Chris, the guy that recorded the video, but ran out of space because I have more to say than You Tube allows. Check out the video and then read the rest of the post.



Chris, I can totally identify with the things you are saying. I too grew up in church. It seemed like the older I got, the more disillusioned I became with the entire idea of being part of a church. When you feel like all you are is a number or a check in the offering plate, it tends to take a toll. And church leadership is just as bad - about the most you get is their big ol' preacher smile and if you're lucky a "good to see you".

Roll back to December 2007. I received a door hanger from a church for it's public launch in January 2008. Usually stuff like that, whether for pizza, yard service, painting, etc. goes directly in the trash at my house. But for some reason, this one stayed on my kitchen counter. At the time, it had been about 4 years since I had been a part of a church, and even as good as I thought the last one was, they too failed me during one of the most painful times of my life. Needless to say, I was not too interested in throwing myself into another one of those situations and facing the distinct possibility of being disappointed again. So the door hanger lived on the counter for 6 months. And then, for whatever reason, I decided that I needed to explore the church's website and figure out whether I wanted to give it a try. One year ago today I got up, showered, and made my way to this new place feeling extremely vulnerable and with defenses high. I decided that morning that if no one spoke to me, introduced themselves, and made me feel welcome that I would not return and probably would be finished with church. You see, church never really failed me as far as the core of what I believed. But it did fail me when it came to people being real with each other and the church being focused on things other than it's buildings and money and status in the community.

God knows and feels our pain, and He knew that I was on the verge of slipping away. As I sat there taking everything in and reading the announcements on the screen, I felt a hand on my shoulder and a warm friendly face appeared followed with an introduction, "Hi, I'm ______. Welcome to The River." I specifically remember this person and always will. It was at that moment I knew that God was fighting for me; He was reminding me of His promise to never leave us or forsake us.

I continued attending this church and it makes me happy to say that this is now my church home. It's hard to believe it's been a year. Everything that church was about before, all of the failures, the cliques, the wrongs, are not present in this church. Every church has it's challenges - that's just what happens when a group of messed up people get together and realize that they can't do it on their own while seeking God's help.

In your video, you mentioned finding a church that is outwardly focused - one that meets in a park or a coffee shop and is concerned about more than just what's inside it's walls; a church that is about the community. In an effort to give you a glimmer of hope about church, I want to share with you that our church strives to be what you described - community focused and non-judging, loving people for who they are and where they are. We strive to be outwardly focused on the community around us and the world. We strive to use resources effectively. The church originally began meeting in a school and when they reached a point where they needed to move, they rented a building. But it was much more space than what could ever be used for church. Plus, the vision was not to have a building that would sit empty all week. If the space was going to exist, then it needed to be used for something productive. Thus the vision of Confluence Coffee - where coffee and life collide. Why such a strange name like Confluence? The word means the joining of two rivers - and people should be like a river, ever flowing and changing the landscape. It also happens to tie in nicely with the church's name and mission - The River Church. We built Confluence to be a place where the community can come together and "do life", have meetings, play music, enjoy each other's company. While the shop is owned and operated by the church, it is not marketed as a "Christian" coffee shop. Anyone and everyone are welcome. And so that is how we choose to use the space that God provided - to reach the community - and we borrow a tiny portion of that space on Sundays for our services.

I could go on and on about the blessings God has poured out on me since becoming a part of this church. My prayer is that you too will find the place that God would have you, and that you are able to give to them just as much as they give to you, even with the pain of past experiences. I know you live in Nashville, but feel free to check out our site. If you're ever over this way, stop in. Keep praying and keep seeking - your heart is in the right place. God will provide the place for you in His time. Until that time, as our pastor tells us, "be the River". Our church's site is www.riverchurchlive.com and the coffee shop's site is www.confluencecoffee.com.

If you have questions or would like to chat, please let me know. It hasn't been so long that I don't remember what it was like to feel what you are feeling.