Episode 31 - Why go to Church?

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Welcome to this episode of the Outside of Sunday Podcast. This week we are asking the question - why go to church? And we will be addressing a recent scandal in the NZ church.
With the COVID lockdowns shaking up how we do church, and more scandals coming to light within the wider Christian community. Why should we bother? My faith is in Jesus, not church. Wouldn’t it just be better to hang out with our Christian friends on a Sunday and watch a message together on YouTube? Or even just at home on our own? Do a little bible reading and then get on with the day. Why go to church?
I have been so tempted to do just that. Hang out with my Christian friends every Sunday, watch a message together online and just spend time in fellowship. We did do a bit of that over lockdown, but there's a reason why it stopped and why we don’t do that every Sunday. There’s no verse that says we have to go to church every week - so why should we do it?
And what about the scandals? Why go to church when the pastor is just going to let you down?
I’ve been praying about it for a while; what should I sayin this episode. Because I feel like I need to address what’s going on with Arise church. This is not something I am doing lightly, I’ve been very prayerful about it and I feel like there is something to be said.
We have all heard by now that the senior pastors of Arise have been facing a major scandal within their church, and have resigned. I’m not going to outline exactly what happened, the accusations are wide ranging, but it boils down to this: there were multiple, major moral failures by certain pastors and the victims of those moral failures have brought their stories to light through a secular journalist.
This is a terrible thing. But it is good that this has come out. Sin should always be brought to the light.

Ephesians 5:11-13

11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

James 5:16 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
So yes, I think it’s good that this has all come to the light.
What is not good however, and what I find disgraceful about the situation (in addition to what we are hearing in the reports), is that it wasn’t brought to the light by the ones who needed to confess, repent and face the consequences of their sin. The pastors themselves should have been the ones to expose their sin. Instead, it was brought to the light by an unbeliever - it’s not only a shameful thing for the Christian community that it happened that way, it’s a tragedy for those who are the victims. I can’t even begin to imagine how alone, how unheard and how desperate the people affected must have felt to not be able to have their claims heard and addressed within the church.
Everything should be brought to the light. I understand that the full extent of the abuse allegations have not been revealed because some of the victims were required to sign NDA

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