If I did not already belong to a church, would I try mine?

If I did not attend a church, would I want to try the Northern Lakes Community Church on for size? I mean, I am its pastor. I helped start this congregation in 1997. I have invested 16 years of my life in it.

But would this church appeal to me if I had no previous connection to it?

A couple of months ago my son asked me to write a post for his blog. He wanted to stir people into discussions about important questions. I chose to write about why young people do not go to church. (I define “young people” as 20- and 30-somethings.) I hoped people in this age cohort would respond to my post. Not one did. I think this happened because my son's blog was brand-new and had few readers. But it might also have happened because nobody that age was even asking the church question.

Still, I followed through with homework I had assigned myself. I read books about church and younger generations, and I interviewed several young people. I learned and re-learned a lot. Young people view the church as hypocritical, judgmental, focused on money and irrelevant. Their parents do, too, but they attend in larger numbers partly out of habit. Youth sports and activities no longer respect Sunday morning, forcing young families not to attend church if they want their budding young stars to keep up with the competition. A vague spirituality has become quite common among young people, replacing the normative, if somewhat lukewarm, Christianity of previous generations.

But the most important lesson I learned is that young people are not even asking themselves about church. Even those who grew up attending regularly are unlikely to keep going—and they're not worried about it. They don't feel guilty (and I'm glad for that, at least). They don't miss church.

If I were 30 would I? I am not sure.

But I am a 53-year-old who has always gone to church. I cannot imagine not belonging to one. Mind you, when I say “belonging” I do not refer to formal membership. I refer, instead, to belonging to a network of brothers and sisters. Almost all my friends come from my church. With the vital exception of my wife, all my personal support comes from my church. My dreams and visions for the future include the church.

I often ask how people can bear to live if they do not believe in God. What hope, what purpose can possibly exist if all creation just is? If stars come from some mechanical process caused solely by space-time interacting with matter, if life—including us—were just the result of a fluke mix of chemicals and lightning in a pool of ooze, what point to it all could there possibly be?

In the same way, I ask how I could live without the church. And by church I mean that network of brothers and sisters. So my answer to the question back there at the top of this essay is Yes. Yes, I would be drawn to my church if I had no prior connection to it.

But how can we help people not already in the network see its critical importance? From my reading and interviews I know the answers turn out to be easy. First, the church must do its best to Be Jesus. We must try to do what Jesus would do were he here. In fact, the Bible teaches us that Jesus is here, in the church. So we need to act like it. No arrogance, no judgment, just love in action.

Second, we must tell people, young and old, specifically what our church does to be Jesus. We are an imperfect network of sinners who somehow manage to house the homeless, comfort those who have lost a beloved spouse to death or divorce, raise up children into believers who often inspire us by going out into the world and doing Jesus.

The Northern Lakes Community Church honestly is a good church. It has flaws. We have made terrible mistakes. But we have that network. I couldn't live without it. And now I am telling you.