Why Should I Go to Church?

Care for a wee story? Last month, Dad and I were out for a walk. It was rush hour on a mild October evening; and as we stepped outside, we saw bumper-to-bumper traffic slouching along at a snail’s pace. It’s no fun being stuck in tailbacks; it isn’t, as Ulster folk say, much craic.

But how far would you go to jump the queue? Think on that as we meet our pantomime baddie: let’s call him Trucker McTruckface, the long-distance lorry driver. Trucker McTruckface was not a man of especial patience – not on this occasion, at any rate, as we’re soon to find out. Most would accept a 5pm tailback as par for the course, but not ol’ Trucker McTruckface.

You see, Trucker McTruckface is a free spirit with a dreamer’s heart. He was born to soar with eagles, not sit in bloody traffic; so he threw the girl into reverse and wiggled her down a side street, a bit like me trying on old skinny jeans. It was all going well… a watertight plan… until he mounted the curb, reversed over a lamppost, shattered his brake lights, and lost a mudflap.

Undeterred, our villain accomplished his dastardly turn-in-the-road and rumbled away, leaving Dad and I speechless. Ah well, at least Christmas arrived early that evening; thanks to Trucker McTruckface, our corner of paradise was awash in gifts not seen since Wise Men came to Bethlehem: a wonky streetlight – angled straight up, like the Bat-Signal, into God’s yoga den; some broken glass for the kids to make bracelets with; and a stranded mudflap. #Blessed.

Why have I just inflicted upon you such an anecdote? It was to prove, of course, that our best laid plans don’t always come to fruition – like when we Christians aim to go to Church every weekend yet somehow don’t. (I know, seamless transition.) Why do we struggle to get up on a Sunday morning and haul ass to Church? It’s partly down, I think, to the pious motives we’re all supposed to have, motives that sound good in the Prayerbook yet fail to get bums on seats.

Consider how the Church of Ireland’s Order for Morning Prayer starts:

Beloved in Christ,
We come together to offer to Almighty God
Our worship and praise and thanksgiving,
To confess our sins and to receive God’s forgiveness,
To hear his holy word proclaimed,
To bring before him our needs and the needs of the world,
And to pray that in the power of his Spirit
We may serve him and know the greatness of his love.

It’d be nice to waken with such godly thoughts, not a care in the world other than the higher mysteries. But picture the scene: you got in at 1am after a fairly tame one (as your standards go, ha-ha). You’re a little hungover – nothing a stiff coffee won’t handle – and you’ve got a choice: worship and thanksgiving, confession and forgiveness, prayer and service… or bed rot.

I remember, in high school, a poster called “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” on the wall of a Business classroom. It’s that one with a pyramid split into five layers, each representing a type of need we have as humans. I’ll hand over to Dr Saul McLeod of SimplyPsychology.org to say more. ‘According to Maslow,’ the Doc writes, ‘the highest-level needs relate to self-actualization, a process by which we achieve our full potential.’ Spiritual fulfilment would seem to belong in this category. There are, though, several tiers of needs which are more immediate: ‘food, water, warmth, rest’; ‘security, safety’; ‘intimate relationships, friends’; ‘prestige and feeling of accomplishment’. I have a simple contention, then: less exalted reasons for churchgoing are more likely to move us when we struggle to summon holier ones.

For instance, you might be roused from your scratcher by those caramel squares wee Peggy makes. If it’s enough to lure you through the door then it’s a good reason to go to church. Obviously, there are a few nobler ones – worship, confession, prayer, and whatnot – but it’s better to go for the sugary benediction of a caramel square, I’m sure any priest or bishop would agree, than to stay home. Pious motives can be worked on at a later stage in the game.

But I can’t wait all day while you work on your piety, so let’s return to Trucker McTruckface. You see, his is more than a tale of hubris; it inspires us with a will to never give up, odds be damned. If Trucker McTruckface had risen to his destiny (to wait five minutes in traffic), then he may have become the hero the gods once chose him to be. Truly, that’s a lesson for us all.

Perseverance, then, is a great asset. When we stick at something worthwhile, it usually results in a better outcome. Go to church, even if as a purely social activity. Chances are that, eventually, the spiritual side will intrigue you more and more. You might even wish to progress from Peggy’s caramel squares in the coffee nook to the spiritual food we receive at Holy Communion. Every journey to the Table is valid; some have more twists and turns than others.

Well, it’s been fun catching up with you; but I’d better leave you with an answer to the question in the title: “Why should I go to church?” And so, here’s my best effort: Church is where we can address our higher-order needs, while not forgetting the ones which are lower- and middle-order. Surely, the single biggest non-religious reason to go to church is meaningful connection, building relationships with others; and that alone is worth getting out of bed for. Church isn’t all things to all people, nor should it be. But it does have something for everyone.