#106 - Should I Go to Church? (Part 3) {Reflections}

What if church wasn’t a product but a countercurrent—something that pulls us out of the cultural river and teaches us to live differently? We open up a candid look at why a healthy church community still matters: not as a perfect institution, but as a living alternative to polarization, loneliness, and consumer thinking. Drawing from Israel’s origin story—justice for the vulnerable, honest measures in business, a sexual ethic that dignifies bodies—we trace how an ancient calling can shape modern communities to bless their neighbors, not mirror the marketplace.

Across the conversation, we call out the drift toward “consumer religion,” where music and preaching are rated like apps, and move instead toward participation: serving, giving, and shared worship that forms character. We contrast the internet’s shallow notes—hot takes, instant outrage, and algorithmic speed—with the base notes of the Christian tradition: covenant, mercy, repentance, hope. Those deeper tones invite us to sit with better questions—Who am I? Whose am I? What really matters?—and to practice habits that resist hurry, image-making, and self-promotion.

This is a vision for a multi-generational, cross-class, politically diverse people who gather for something bigger than themselves and then carry that presence into ordinary life—boardrooms and breakrooms, kitchens and city councils. Honest work, hospitality to strangers, care for the poor, peacemaking across divides: these aren’t extras; they are the point. If you’ve been searching for a place that exchanges transaction for trust and speed for substance, consider this your invitation to explore a community defined by grace, truth, and shared life.

If the message resonates, share this episode with a friend, subscribe for future reflections, and leave a review to help others find the show. And if you’re local, join us at Central in Elk River—8:30 for our liturgical gathering or 10:00 for our modern gathering—or visit clcelkriver.org.

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