Is encountering God the reason we go to church?

A post-Charismatic’s quick take: Not quite. But also very much yes.

I texted my friend the other day this quotation from Richard Beck’s Hunting Magic Eels (actually from Beck’s friend Brian):

[U]nless we’re having an encounter with God at church, there isn’t a compelling reason for young people—or anyone—to go.

My friend replied, “Whoa. That’s cool. Do you agree?”

I wrote back, “Kinda. We’d have to bend the definition of ‘having an encounter with’ to include ‘returning to being profoundly aware of the constant, loving presence of.’ God is always present. He is here. Now. With you. With me. All around us. Him in us and us in Him. I refuse to perform rain dances. Life is a continuous encounter with Him.

“But the thrust of the declaration, which you wouldn’t know without its context, I affirm without hesitation or reservation: Church cannot be just a therapeutic support group, a social justice organization, or a book club.”

In summary, I’d now add: Church must be a meeting of monomaniacs for God who are nonetheless not fazed when He doesn’t “show up.”