This is a question I’ve been thinking a bit about, regarding where I am in my faith and capabilities of staying in this place, but also growing from this place, without going to Church. It feels kind of strange having heard a few views that run along the line of, ‘Well if you don’t go to Church, how can you stay religious or spiritual?’. Like personal relationship with Christ is reliant on going to Church.

Would I survive without the Church? Well yes, I mean temporally speaking that’s obvious. But even spiritually too. I was inactive for over six years and it never occurred to me that I really needed to go to Church for my spiritual welfare. I had the scriptures, I had the teachings of my parents, I was settled. All I really lacked were people to fellowship with.

Which is pretty much the reason I came back, to get back in touch with people, and to share the testimony I had gained during my years of inactivity. And I greatly benefited from it as a ton of my social fears disappeared over the course of a few months. I’ve been getting exercise rollerblading to activities, and I’ve gotten to become a part of something bigger than my two cents thrown around the internet.

Yet I feel the need for a break. I’ve been back for half a year, but I don’t feel as spiritually invigorated now as I did back in the first two or three months, when I was running off of the awesomeness of the simplicity that was explained in such powerful words by Todd White. I think I’ve gone off that course of simplicity, and my mind’s been bogged up by all sorts of complicated issues. Or that it’s been too focused on them. Thinking about issues isn’t a problem, it’s when you start letting them get you down, and when they begin to repeat over and over in your head, when the issues become bigger to you than God is.

It gets pretty hard when you want those issues resolved, but there’s not really anything you can do. Which I guess is why I need a break! Some time away from Church, and to just spend a few hours on Sunday in the scriptures and in prayer. One on one time with God, because Church is not supposed to be our secret place, and we are meant to seek God in the secret place.

So my question is, would you survive without the Church? Are you in a place where if a disaster strikes, and scatters the membership and leadership, you’re still gonna know where you’re going, or what you’re doing? If so I’ll bet it’s because you’ve got that rock solid foundation of Jesus Christ, and that’s awesome. Throughout our spiritual journey we should be coming to a place where we can fully rely on Jesus. Church is great, but it’s not our rock. I see so many people falter in their faith because they built their foundation on the Church. I don’t want that to happen anymore. I want people to see Jesus and His goodness.

I just find it so strange such a huge emphasis there is on attending Church, on ‘stay in the boat!’. I believe for some people it hinders their spiritual progress, if they think attending is all they need to do to progress. But if we take the boat analogy for being the Church and look at some scriptures there are a few pretty crazy lessons. For instance, when Jesus was out walking on the water. Peter wanted out of the boat to come to Him, but lack of faith caused him to sink initially until Jesus caught him. Or another time Peter was out on his boat, and he saw Jesus on the shore (having been resurrected), and he jumped out of the boat to get to Him.

In Revelation 3:20 we have a message from Jesus to the churches where He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” There are many Christian churches that you could say cling to the precepts of men than of God. In those cases, Jesus is on the outside knocking at the door, He’s out of the boat and on the water, and we have to come to Him by faith. And that’s why He said when we gather specifically in His name that He is among us, when we hear His voice and open the door, when we go out to Him on the water.

There have been a couple times during Church where I’ve felt a strong pull to go outside, and I did. I almost wonder if it was because Jesus was out there knocking. It could also have been that I needed some vitamin D, but who knows. Anyway!

Elder Poelman put what I’m ultimately trying to say really well in his original version of the talk ‘The Gospel and the Church’, where he says, “As individually and collectively we increase our knowledge, acceptance, and application of gospel principles, we become less dependent on Church programs. Our lives become gospel centered. Sometimes traditions, customs, social practices and personal preferences of individual Church members may, through repeated or common usage be misconstrued as Church procedures or policies. Occasionally, such traditions, customs and practices may even be regarded by some as eternal gospel principles. Under such circumstances those who do not conform to these cultural standards may mistakenly be regarded as unorthodox or even unworthy. In fact, the eternal principles of the gospel and the divinely inspired Church do accommodate a broad spectrum of individual uniqueness and cultural diversity. The conformity we require should be according to God’s standards. The orthodoxy upon which we insist must be founded in fundamental principles and eternal law, including free agency and the divine uniqueness of the individual.”

I urge you to ponder where you’re at with both your relationship with Christ and your relationship with the Church. If they are in equal proportion, good. If Christ is greater, wonderful, excellent, fantastic. I love you all, and I know the Lord does too.