There's a prevailing - and I think unfounded - assumption among American Christians that church should be enjoyable. Most people approach church involvement as if they were about to attend a dinner theater production: we dress up; we leave in time so as not to be late; we expect to be greeted at the door and escorted to our choice of seating; we hope the music is to our taste and that the pastor's speaking is winsome, engaging, and delightful. Then, of course, on the way home we review the whole as if we were critics about to write a column for the "Arts & Entertainment" section of the paper. I say this perspective is unfounded and want to suggest that, sometimes, not enjoying church is an expression of genuine Christian faith.
As foreign as this sounds to our ears I refer you to the experience of the early church where Paul, for example, could say, "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me..." Colossians 1:24-25.
The afflictions of Christ which Paul mentions are not Christ's redemptive sufferings on the cross as mediator of the new covenant which atone for sinners, but His ministerial sufferings endured throughout the course of His earthly ministry. He endured insults, mockery, threats, rejection - the treachery and betrayal of trusted friends - and also the physical, emotional, and spiritual fatigue of continual service. All of this Paul knew intimately in his apostolic ministry.
Now, someone may point out that Paul rejoiced in what was suffered which seems to argue against my point. But to rejoice in what was suffered is not the same thing as to enjoy suffering. When Paul was tied to the whipping post and flogged it was not fun. When the lash repeatedly tore open his skin and lacerated the flesh of his back he did not giggle with glee. When the wounds festered and he became feverish he did not ask the guards "Can we do that fun whipping thing again?" Paul said he suffered, and suffering is by definition not enjoyable.
What, then, does Paul mean, "I rejoice in what was suffered..."? It was only afterward, when put in the larger framework of what Christ suffered for the church - that Christ continues to suffer somehow (mystically?) in the sufferings of His saints (a fact which Paul learned first hand when, as Saul the rabid Pharisee hounding the church, Jesus said from heaven, "Saul, Saul - why do you persecute me?") - that the saints' sufferings are for Jesus, the gospel and the church that Paul saw his sufferings as part of his service in obedience to Christ.
Another way to look at this is that Paul said he had been made a servant of the church by the commission God gave him. Consider the position and work of a servant. They are usually tasked with the unpleasant, menial, sometimes downright nasty jobs of the household. Moreover, they do not have freedom to forgo the task - they must suffer through. That they do so is a sign of their faithfulness and they can rejoice that they will be considered as such.
In the church it's the real servants of Christ who suffer - not just martyrdom - but also the fatigue of daily service. Consider the service of Sunday school teachers, nursery volunteers, youth workers, and custodial help. It's not unusual for these people to come home worn out. They are often bedraggled, and may even find themselves saying, "You know, I don't enjoy going to church. Those kids/that task just wears me out." Again, I want to suggest that's ok, possibly even a good sign in which we should rejoice. Paul rejoiced in his sufferings so should we.
