I recently used Facebook to enlist some help in understanding why my family and friends attend church. Some took the opportunity to unleash a long missive about what God is, while others presented me with one-line answers. Out of this input and independent research, I have found some specific lines of thought. Of the ten or so reasons this is the first:

People attend church to find community. In church speak it is called fellowship or small group interactions. Life in our current society has become full of plastic relationships. A hand shake here or there is not enough. Getting 30 likes on Facebook is not enough. A serial email, composed by a professional and splattered with canned clip art is not enough. People are looking for deep, communal, loyal and authentic relationships. Christianity was never meant to be lived in a cloistered, isolated, solitary lifestyle. When church members, God-fearing members, supportive of all the ministries of the church members can’t find community they lose interest in all else. People have an inherent need for meaningful relationships. When a church learns to nurture community, it becomes a place of joy. If the church neglects this vital part of love and acceptance, church will become just one more thing on the list that just sucks the life out of you.

I have experienced both types of churches: one that focuses on fellowship and ones that seem to legislate or even encourage the one stop shop of worship without caring. Too many good and faithful Christians are tired of the investment of emotional energy into churches that don’t build a culture that values authentic community.

More to come. What do you think?