How do you feel about church? Do you feel a longing? I often long for church, but when I'm to go I can feel a resistance for some reason. But I often feel a resistance to leave home, so it might be that. I have a tendency to postpone one thing or another.
How do you get the fire burning in you heart for church?
My feelings for the Church (big C) are different from my feelings for the church (small c) of which I am a member. I love the brethren individually but, when they come together as a distinct group, strange and unpleasant things often result, which can make it hard to be enthusiastic about them (as a group). The term "church" can be a bit confusing, too, since by the term we may be referring to the entire program of church life: communal worship, ministries, teaching, general tenor relationally (reserved, cold, clique-ish, wealthy, warm, welcoming, etc.).
The members of the family of God are joined together very intimately, the Bible says, and are at a severe disadvantage spiritually when isolated from one another. It's no surprise, then, that I feel quite out-of-joint spiritually when I am not actively involved with my local church family. But, my church is a collection of imperfect people who often bump and scratch at one another, passively and actively, and who can be very selfish and worldly at times in their behaviour. This can have a very...deflating effect on my enthusiasm for participating in my church.
What, fundamentally, is supposed to move believers toward one another in community? The Holy Spirit (
1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Titus 3:5-6; Romans 8:9-11). The Spirit in one believer draws them to the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ (
Romans 8:9), in other believers. We are all one in Christ, his Body and Bride (
Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:23-30). And so, like magnets, when one believer moves close enough to another for their lives to intersect, they naturally adhere to one another, finding a strong affinity for one another, not in personality, or hobby, or career, or political views, but in the union they have together in the Spirit of Christ.
The "fire" for Church/church, then, burns in the believer in the Person of the Holy Spirit. When that "fire" is absent or cold, it indicates something is awry between the believer and the Spirit within him/her. Keeping the "fire" for church burning, then, is a matter of maintaining submission to, and fellowship with, the Spirit; for it is only in submission to God, to the Spirit, that the life of the Spirit fills up the believer, drawing them powerfully to those in whom the Spirit also dwells.
There is, though, in some churches much "leaven." (
1 Corinthians 5:6-7) When this is the case, the whole church can grow flat spiritually, lifeless, fractured, and hypocritical. This often leads to a greater insinuation of the World into the church, to many compromises with the World, to carnal, sensual worship and false teaching, in an effort to compensate for the flattening effect of the "leaven" (aka - sin) in the church. In the churches in which I've been where this has occurred, it has been impossible to maintain any eagerness for involvement. In such a circumstance - especially if false teaching and immorality has entrenched itself - the Christ-honoring believer must separate him/herself. But this isn't reflective of a problem between the believer and the Spirit within them, but exactly the opposite being true.
Anyway, just some thoughts on your OP...
