Why I Think You Should Go Back to Church (Part 1)

The Bible is more lovey-dovey than I usually prefer to imagine.  It's cloyingly replete with rejoinders to love God, love people, love strangers, love neighbors, love enemies, and so forth.  God loves Israel, God loves the world, Jesus loves his disciples, etc.  And some might say, "Yeah, but there's this many Hebrew words for love and this many Greek words for love, and they all mean different things, and real Biblical love is not the sentimental sort."  Well, I'm no scholar of Hebrew or Greek, but I'm not talking about merely the words.  I mean, have you read about how God tenderly clothed Adam and Eve right after they rebelled?  Have you read of how David said he searched for God like a parched throat thirsts for water, and that God's kindness was better than life itself?  Have you read Song of Solomon?  Hosea?  What about Jesus longing to gather the children of Jerusalem under his wing like a hen?  Have you heard about the rejoicing--the exorbitant and prodigious party--that happens when one sinner turns back to God?

Quite lovey-dovey if you ask me.  And sometimes, I act like I'd prefer to do without all that.  I want to focus on what we're doing.  It's too easy to manufacture emotion, and it leaves me vulnerable to accusations of hypocrisy, not least of all from my own conscience.  The moment a sentiment of love wells up from deep within, I fire back, "How dare you think you love God?  You just broke one of his commandments earlier today!"  "How dare you think you love that person?  They were in need, and you pretended not to notice."  "I can sing God's praises all day long, but how many people are going to think my faith is authentic if I'm not even doing this or that?" 

There is some merit, no doubt, in weighing one's felt sense of piety against the weight of one's actions.  But at what point does the stifling of emotion become a self-defeating impediment?  And who are we to reject what God has embraced?  If his word is to be trusted, love is not merely sentiment, but neither is it merely action. When Jesus said, "All who believe in me shall not perish but have eternal life," he deemed that the ground in which salvation is sown should include not only the will but the mind and heart as well.  For who could possibly repent and believe in such a Gospel without wells of sorrow and gratitude attending?

Which brings me to my point. If you are a Christian and have been away from church, why should you go back?  Jesus told his disciples:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now, remain in my love.  If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:9-12)

So I ask, how can we love each other if we don't even see each other?