I have noticed over time that their is a trap that most people seeking after God can have by going to church. They come hoping to learn about the whole God thing and get swept into community. They get inundated with meals, outings, groups, and trip. They are introduced to multiple people and are called to connect with them.
Other churches think they have moved beyond this topic because their groups focus on learning the word of God. They learn the language and speak of the church community. They know the right classes to attend. They learn the right past theologians to admire. They even begin to memorize and regurgitate the information they have learned from community.
The breakdown for the individual comes when failure of this community occurs. This is inevitable because sin has the powerful way of infiltrating even the best of intentions (Romans 7). This failing of the community will all of the sudden make a various obvious reality even more obvious. People tend to fall in love with the people of God versus God himself.
I think this is why a book like The Shack is so overwhelming when it is read by others. This book speaks to a true experience with God and involvement with people, groups, meeting, etc. is secondary. The real intent is to connect with God himself as the first priority and it is not mitigated to another group of people. However, the book only offers a fictional scenario and a fictional answer to the problem, because in real life we are called to meet together to work these things out with one another (Acts 2:42-47; Heb. 10:23-25).
The question we have to ask ourselves daily is this: Am I in love with God or am I in love with people who say that are in love with God?
