Keeping the Flame Alive
By Nyasili Atetwe
A Kenyan Christian reflects: we burn the brightest–and our flame lasts the longest–when we join with other believers through the Church.
Awhile back, I stumbled on an intriguing post on a Facebook group. Someone had posed the question, “Why did you stop going to church?” The thread of comments stretching down from the post numbered in the hundreds, with the post itself attracting a couple of thousand likes. As to be expected on social media, some comments were an exercise in comic relief. But mostly they presented a rather stark indictment of the church: they bemoaned the judgmental stance of church members against those caught up the snares of their own weaknesses; the involvement of some clergy in sexual scandals; the use of miracle “artists” by some clergy to draw crowds and mint money from their offering plates; and on and on. The accusations were endless—and I knew many of them to be true.
One said that the only thing that churches ask of their members nowadays is money: they preach the prosperity gospel to hoodwink unsuspecting believers into parting with their cash. Another observed that adulterers and swindlers and all manner of nefarious characters go to church every Sunday and concluded that churches are nothing but social clubs for hypocrites. This, of course, isn’t a new accusation for churchgoers. In his book Why We Go to Church, C.K. Robertson describes sitting next to a businessman on a plane and recounts their small talk before takeoff. The businessman seemed appalled when Robertson told him he was a priest. “But why go to church?” the businessman asked—to which Robertson answered, “Why not go to church?” The businessman said he went to church when he was young, but he no longer had time for church. He added that there are “a lot of hypocrites in churches,” to which Robertson assented. Then he assured him that “there is always room for one more.”
Despite the frailty and failure of every person who calls him- or herself a Christian, I believe there are more reasons for going to church than for staying away. We live in a spiritual dispensation where individual worship is through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. But one needs a church fellowship to make this possible. A log of burning wood that is taken out of the fireplace must lose its flames sooner or later. The church is a kind of bonfire that keeps each of us burning—and keeps us shining out as the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) that we are all called to be.
In many traditions, including mine, going to church involves communal prayers, inviting God’s presence in response to His promise to be present where two or three are gathered in His name (Mathew 18:20). The path of spiritual growth is full of highs and lows; it cuts through both hills and valleys. When I am down in the valleys, I find it difficult to pray over anything, even an issue that may be pressing me down. This dryness of spirit is often quenched during an hour of prayer during a church service—particularly because the singing gets me back to my groove, as it were. The communal prayers of the gathered Christians (my brothers and sisters) have a way of rekindling the dying fire in my life and heart. And I don’t think I’m alone in that experience.
The communal prayers of the gathered Christians have a way of rekindling the dying fire in my life and heart.
One reason I can be sure of that is that church-going can gift us with a deep sense of belonging. Often, members of the same church refer to one another as family, just as Jesus called His followers His brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:49-50). Acceptance is (or ought to be) the immediate benefit of joining a Christian fellowship, from the moment you walk in the door as a visitor and ever more so as a regular attender or member. Eventually church becomes home, and it is common to find someone saying “in our church” we believe this or practice that, even referring to one of their members as “ours.” To many churchgoers, church is not only where they go for spiritual nourishment; it becomes a part of their personal and spiritual identity—just as a family does. It is often said that everyone seeks to belong to something greater than themselves; as the body of Christ, the Church can be an answer to that deep longing. The joy of that sense of belonging yearns to be shared with others. I know of churches where the members have adopted a unique dress code that they do not just wear on Sundays but throughout the week as one pleases. This is a cool thing for someone who seeks to identify themselves by their faith without having to carry a Bible or say it out loud.
Those who actively participate in the life of the church also find that their church provides them with many opportunities for sharing their gifts and talents, for giving and for giving back. Some churches have departments that make use of the talents of all sorts of people, from artists (praise and worship), to engineers (church development), to accountants (finance), to media personnel (media department), to friendly faces (greeting and outreach), and more. These departments provide opportunities for contributing to the development of the body of Christ in a personally fulfilling way. By believing in Christ, we become parts that are “joined and held” in the body, of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 4:15). Our contributions are valuable; they are needed to support the flourishing of the Church and advance the spread of the Gospel. By giving of our God-given talents to serve others, we can experience fulfillment from contributing to a bigger cause, knowing the impact will go beyond immediate personal gains.
But maybe you aren’t feeling at home or accepted just now—as I said, the faith journey is made up not only of hilltops, but also of valleys. It was Pastor Jon Courson, founder of the Applegate Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville, Oregon, who said that when you feel you do not want to go to church, that is when you most need to go to church. Think about it! It is easy to feel like not going to church if a fellow member has wronged you in some way. You may also feel like staying away if you feel you have messed yourself up or have failed to uphold the Christian way championed by your church. Or you may find it convenient to miss church because your struggles persist even after you have put in hours and hours of prayers.
But it is at this point that we all need some form of strengthening that can be found in a church service. The gatherings of the body of Christ can offer immense opportunities for restoration for all of us who acknowledge that, while we are bound to let the ball slip at some point, the redeeming power of God is still present to embrace us. Robertson prescribes unapologetic reading and praying about sin on a weekly basis in church fellowships, not to depress those who have fallen short along the way, but as an acknowledgment of the “reality of the human condition.” We have all fallen short, each and every week. I have often heard brethren say, “The pastor was talking directly to me,” in reference to a sermon, and I have also felt the same on many occasions. Sermons, through preachers, are opportunities for God to speak to His people, in particular ways—admonishing, encouraging, uplifting. But in staying away, one simply misses out on this opportunity to be reminded both of human sinfulness and of God’s infinite forgiveness, mercy, and love.
Churchgoers receive much-needed empowerment to help them keep going in their walk with Christ.
Apart from prayers and teachings, churchgoing also provides believers with the opportunity to participate in Holy Communion. As Timothy Radcliffe observes in Why Go to Church: The Drama of the Eucharist, most people in the West believe in God even though they no longer go to church. They are more interested in spirituality than in religious practice and therefore find church rituals “empty, lacking in spontaneity, boring and impersonal.” But properly understood, rituals such as Holy Communion are none of the above—they are full of meaning and grace for every individual believer. Moreover, while there are many spiritual activities that one may engage in during personal prayer and devotional time, one cannot have Holy Communion alone. Jesus presided over the first Holy Communion in fellowship with all of His disciples. The fact that He did not choose a select few of His disciples for this occasion (as was the case with the Transfiguration) emphasizes the critical role of fellowship in the sharing Holy Communion in the church. This was also Jesus’ only commandment regarding what we should do in His remembrance (Luke 22:19). For me personally, participating in Holy Communion is immensely meaningful and transformative. The reflection that accompanies the taking of Holy Communion stirs a moment of repentance in me. Acknowledging the scourging and beatings that Jesus underwent on my behalf revives my desire to do better in my walk with God. Drinking the cup in commemoration of His blood shed for me leaves me knowing that my shortcomings are washed away. I get a sense of renewal I never get from my private devotion.
Still, the many demands of life during the course of the week are enough to distract anyone from sparing time for spiritual growth and development, or even for encouragement and renewal. Many will confess that they are always on the run, from the moment their morning alarm goes off. By the time they are back home, they are too tired to even pray because of fatigue from their day’s hustles. But churchgoing breaks this cycle, offering a believer time to pause and reflect for a couple of hours on their own spirituality and to interact with members of their church families. As Bishop Julius Maina, the senior pastor at my church, says, Mondays are easier for believers because they are recharged every Sunday. Through the core of sermons and teaching, churchgoers receive much-needed empowerment to help them keep going in their walk with Christ.
In one of his Sunday sermons when new members were received at our church, Bishop Maina used the analogy of the testy relationship between lions and buffalos to depict the lightening of the Christian walk that comes from associating with a fellowship. Buffalos, he said, often graze in herds of hundreds. This enables them to easily ward off lions that are always lurking around them in the bushes. The buffalos stick to the herd because they know that it makes them invincible. They have tough, sharp horns, and they weigh about 2000 pounds when fully grown, which is five times heavier than an adult male lion. But these physical advantages are not enough to defend against the cunning lions when the buffalo steps outside the herd.
Additionally, the buffalos make an interesting formation as they graze through the fields in herds of hundreds: they ensure the old, the pregnant, the limping, and the weak calves are at the center, while the strong bulls bring the rear to ward off the lions when need arises. In the same way, the church is made up of the young and the old, the weak and the strong (both physically and spiritually), who can help one another in many ways. In our church, for instance, we have a mentorship program for new believers, which aims to equip them with insights on how to stay on the narrow path and avoid going back to their old lives. There are also Christian counseling forums for anyone experiencing a difficult time or crisis in their personal lives, so that they never have to walk alone through their trials and tribulations.
By joining our flames together, we can stay alight.
The risk of losing our connection to or fervency for God is always there when we are away from a church fellowship, but especially when life crises strike. The reality of life is that the lions of bereavement, diseases, family breakups, and economic shakeups are always lurking in the shadows. This is true both for new believers who have just been admitted into the body of Christ and the veterans in the army of the Lord who have spent decades serving the church. In one lion-versus-buffalo documentary I watched, the lions wrestled a muscular bull that kept fighting back until it could fight back no more. They eventually overcame him despite his great individual strength and endurance.
When the lions of life strike, a church fellowship can supply the support system we need to make it through the fight. In my church, members reach out to those grappling with serious illnesses, job losses, or any other personal crises. We pray for them, visit them, and fundraise for them wherever necessary. In this, we follow the wisdom of Saint James, who exhorted the members of the early Christian communities to call on their church elders to pray for them and anoint them in the name of the Lord when they fell sick. Then “the prayers offered in faith will make the sick person well… If they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (James 5:14–15). I have witnessed the prayers and support provided at our church turn around the lives of members, giving them the strength they need to withstand the attacks of the lions of life. Some of those so helped who were previously the least involved in the church family grew to become our most active participants.
The Church is not perfect. No individual church is perfect, either. They are all made up of hypocrites like me who fail and fall short every week, and who need the assurance of God’s love and guidance to keep them on the straight path. And the Christian walk is by no means made easy by the simple act of church-going, either. It can, however, make our burdens easier to bear and our strivings more meaningful when we join with the body of Christ in fellowship, worship, and service to God, to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to the world God loves. If our flame burns alone, it will inevitably go out. But by joining our flames together, we can stay alight, and together we can produce a brighter light for the world than scattered embers ever could.
Photos by Unsplash Photographers.
Nyasili Atetwe is a published author, essayist, researcher, and photographer living in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the head of media at the International Gospel Acts Church – Uthiru, Kenya.