A number of years ago, I picked up a book with a catchy title, on the advice of someone who recommended it to me. All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten by Robert Fulghum suggested that the fundamental lessons of of life were learned in that early year of daily academic training that most of us remember and a few of us may long to revisit. It was a humorous and well timed read, especially as I came upon Psalm 73 recently in my devotional walkabout through the Psalms and discovered that the Psalmist felt that way about the church– more specifically, the the Sanctuary of God. In the Psalm the writer describes his frustration with the apparent easy path of an arrogant and prosperous lifestyle that he observed all around him. To the Psalmist, they were a ghastly lot, full of presumptuous sinfulness and willful pride, and if truth be told, it troubled him greatly. He writes,
When I pondered to understand this it was troublesome in my sight. Eugene Peterson is more blunt in his paraphrase, “it gave me a headache.”
But then, he gathered himself and reflected upon one significant fact he may have overlooked. Upon reflection he said,
Until I came into the Sanctuary of God, and then I perceived their end.
Think of it, the Psalmist struggled with the seeming inequity of life and the perceived injustices of a culture that had lost its footings, until, and I think this significant, until he came to church. Then it all made sense.
So, I began to ponder… I wonder what other benefits might be found in church? How has my life been enriched by my connection with the Sanctuary of God, that place where we regularly meet for instruction, worship, and prayer?
It was in church where I have regularly witnessed the generosity of God’s people; offerings and gifts being provided to those within and outside the fellowship who manifested tremendous needs. As I pondered I considered the many medical bills that have been paid, the utility bills that have kept the heat and lights on, and the food and gasoline that have been delivered to people who otherwise may have been stranded or gone hungry– all because of the love of God and the church.
It was at church, in fact, where I saw first-hand the true cost of sin, the difficulty of public confession, and the blessing of seeing God’s people surround the broken sinner. I was only a boy of twelve when I saw a deacon in our church careen down the isle at church, tearfully confessing the sin of adultery to his wife and the congregation at large but I shall never forget it. It was an epiphany.
When I considered God’s church I remembered it to be a place where I found my calling, the platform for practical early leadership training and the place where I developed as a person and a professional. It’s pulpit became the training ground for public speaking, its committees an opportunity to hone my vision, and its people the great potential for the plan of God.
The church was for me a place of accountability; first as a young teenager, sitting in the first row, talking uncontrollably until my pastor stopped in mid-sentence to call me out, rebuke me and remind me that what he had to say trumped anything that Rick and I might think important. Who knows, today this man might be flogged for damaging my tender psyche.
Much later as I (we) as were learning to practice the joys and challenges of parenting, the need arose on several occasions to take our boys out of the service for discipline and then back in again. Far from being a distraction, my church family was supportive and encouraged us in the vigilance that was necessary if we were to raise godly sons. Our children were homeschooled for much of their early years but every week in AWANA, were awakened to the realities of an ugly, sinful world and a culture that lacked the committed parents that the church was so diligently trying to fashion in us and others.
What we have discovered over the nearly 40 years of marriage, is that investing ourselves in the church has resulted in friendships that have lasted a lifetime and relationships that remain transformational even today. To be sure, as we have moved, the daily intensity of those relationships with some have changed but their value remains a continuing source of blessing, not just for me, for for those we continue to love in other places. It was, after all, shortly after our arrival in the Mesa, Arizona, that we visited a church where, before we could even leave the parking lot, a family much like ours, invited us to share a picnic down by the river (yes there is water in Arizona) and thereafter impacted our lives for many years. Their kids were in our school, we rented a home they owned, and they were instrumental in helping me find ministry when I went off to seminary in Iowa. They like us, had two kids, loved the Lord and, don’t miss this– they desired to raise their children in and around God’s church. And so, on that day in 1980 we began a friendship with a couple, that remains, if not as close in proximity, yet as valuable for eternity.
When I pondered to understand this, the Psalmist wrote, It was troublesome to me– until I came into the church of God.
It may seem to many that the church is the last place they might seek for making sense of life but I think if pressed, Robert Flughum might agree…
All I really need to know, I learned in church.
MJC
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