The church, simply put, Is Heaven on Earth. A place to reunite with your brothers and sisters, seeing your father rejoice over you after coming back from a long day of work, although that is a bit cliché. Perhaps you just came back from doing other daily things! On any occasion, he will be waiting to have dinner with you nonetheless. Point is:
It’s your family. You are Home.
The Bible describes it as a family gathering in The Prodigal Son or as a Husband and a Wife in other verses such as this one:
“As a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you”
Isaiah 62:5
When two people come together in marriage, they become a family. In both teachings the family concept is present. Very nicely put, God’s house is a family banquet. And yes, the word family is repeated multiple times in this paragraph on purpose.
At Home We Are Ourselves
One of the many reliefs we get to experience when arriving at a proper home again is to drop the social niceties and display our true colors.
Both flaws and rainbows.
An ideal home would simply accept these. Clashes may occur, but forgiveness will follow- sometimes only after years. But you know! at the standards of a typical family on Earth right?
No matter if for better or for worse, that is more or less what our Father God expects out of his Churches according to His word.
At the core, regardless of the type of Catholic movement, we all look for a similar or dare I say the same thing when joining or re-joining a Church again. That it follows Christ with The Bible and to share with other people his blessings.
It appears that sometimes all it takes to find the right church is a google search! And when you find one that meets all the qualifications, all is done. After all, churches are all the same and for the same, right?
Not really.
If we are to feel at home in Church (even if that Church is comprised of wonderful people) you ought to be yourself there too. More often than not we forget to find The One that goes with our own personality. The ‘Who are you, Who am I’ type of question.
What Makes for an Engaging Church?
As stated above: Try a Church that goes with your personality!
Sometimes we think we must be exactly like Jesus to be a good Christian. And that’s not wrong, but there is a difference between being like Jesus and being Jesus. You are not Jesus. You are (insert name here).
You have your own set of gifts and skills that enable you to love and give in your own special way.
A number of Churches have their own set of activities.
To put an example, you may find a Church that is very involved with missionary work, and initially, the whole idea sounds great!
Helping the people in need and engaging with a lot of social events, meeting other Christians and now you are here, now you are there. It’s good.
A very active type of Church.
But do you really see yourself engaging in so many, let’s call them- outdoor activities as an introvert? Will you share the same passion for it?
Perhaps you might be looking for a Church that focuses more on spiritual discussions and contemplation of the faith in prayer, a more academic Church, a Church with a big choir group if you like singing, and an infinite of ETCs.
There is no one correct way of being a Christian. People are different hence different Churches for everyone.
We can all help in the right way if we use the gifts God gifted us with to help others. A decent Church, I believe, will respect and acknowledge that.
Arriving Home at The End of The Day
Out of all the keys in a ring – the most important in the end – is the one that opens the door to your Father’s love and his warm, cozy home.
And that is the picture the Church should aim for.
To get you closer to it and help you work on The-bond with your Dad. At your pace and style.
At this moment, is your Church helping you unlock this key? Let’s hope and pray more Churches every day help Jesus welcome each individual – that they may accompany you on your journey to be together, and Return Home.