Can God Call You Away from Church

“Am I only a God nearby,”
declares the Lord,
    “and not a God far away?” - Jeremiah 23:23

Yesterday we heard what many people said was an unusual message. Instead of pressuring for more regular church attendance, the message was about how God honors peoples’s spiritual journeys even when it leads them away from Sunday attendance. In fact, God often blesses people when they take a break from church.

Apparently God is not just ‘nearby’ in the church building on Sundays. God is also ‘far away’ on the sidelines of your kid’s soccer tournament (even though it lasts all weekend long and exhausts you) and at the Sunday morning baby shower you felt a little bit guilty going to and at the beach you love and just had to spend time at to find some sanity before the week starts and even, God forbid, in that comfy bed you decided to stay in instead of getting up and going to a church service.

In fact, these aren’t just one-off moments when God might condescend to let you out of your mandatory Sunday attendance. Sometimes there are whole seasons of life when God may be calling you away from Sunday attendance. Yes, you read that right. These words are why this sounded like an unusual message to many yesterday.

We’ll be processing these ideas more over the next few days. But take a moment now and ask the question: What are my main motivations for attending worship on a Sunday morning at City Church (or elsewhere)? And instead of just coming up with some quick answers, let the question really sit with you. Ponder. Ask the Spirit to speak to you, to guide you, to reveal your own heart to you.