"Don't be a churchgoer..."

I, like many people I know grew up going to church from the time they can remember. I can't begin to tell you when I wasn't in church as a young person, because believe it or not I along with alot of other people I knew my age, we loved to go to church. Church then was a time to hang out with your friends that went to a different school than you did and catch up with what might have gone on with them from the last time you were together.

We went to Sunday school and in the summer time we were at vacation bible school. We went out of town to visit other churches to meet other young people and see who's choir or group sang the best. Yes, we were the quintessential churchgoers at a very early age. They taught us about Jesus being born and that's why we celebrate Christmas, and about him rising from the dead and that's why we celebrate Easter. Oh, and we got new clothes at Easter so we could look good doing our Easter speeches.

I was fourteen years of age when I really understood the whole reason behind us "going to church" in the first place. I now understand that we (the believer) are the church and that the building is the place we meet to fellowship and strengthen one another to go out into the highway and hedges and compel men and women to come and be apart of the church-body and not just the church-building.

"Don't be a churchgoer...Be the church."