What the bible says about going to church...
...yes, going to church is that important. The bible says in Proverbs that two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if one were to fall, the other will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he hath not another to help him up. Now to be fair, many believe they have excellent reasons for not going to church on a regular basis. I have heard various reasons to why they can't, from work schedules to comments about things in churches that are "just not right," to "I don’t really get anything out of going," as well as countless others. To be honest, there is no such thing as a "perfect church" especially since all churches are made up of imperfect people. One of the things I have learned about my heavenly Father over the years is that if He requires us to do something, He always equips and enables us to do it. However, it always requires some level of faith on our part, we have to simply step out and trust and obey, sometimes with little assurance other than God’s Word to us. Yet, if we are indeed true believers, God's Word should be enough for us, this is what faith is all about right? Many times we have to take a step out onto the "water" to discover that we can “walk on water” with God's help. The fact is, many times we allow our circumstances to become more real to us than God and His Word. As I have been encountering other Christians over the years, I have been praying about this issue, and I wanted to write down what God, through His Word has to say about the importance of local church attendance and involvement. Another reason for doing this was to encourage myself as well as to be better prepare for opportunities to encourage others. Really, what it comes down to, is not if our excuses are good enough, but rather do we trust God to enable us to do what He has asked of us? Are we willing to sacrifice our lives for the One who sacrificed everything for us?
One of the well-known scriptures that speaks toward going to church is Hebrews 10:25, which says: "...not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching". We can see from this passage that going to church is not merely optional for Christians, rather we have been admonished by the Holy Spirit through the writer of Hebrews. “Why is this important?” someone may ask, why can’t I just have a relationship with Jesus without going to church? Well, 1st Corinthians tells us that God has put gifts in the church as it has pleased Him; And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. This tells us that there are resources within the true church that Jesus has placed within the body of Christ that we all need to properly grow and become mature in Christ, if indeed we are concerned with that. Jesus started the church during His earthly ministry, and it was all based upon the relationships that He established with His disciples. To build relationships with them He had to spend time with them, to spend time with them, they had to be in the same place. They also had to be intimate and bear their hearts with one another and most importantly with Jesus. Just as we are saved through our relating to Christ, we are sustained, strengthened, challenged, chastened and encouraged through a proper relationship with His body as well. To ignore this vital avenue in which God has chosen to instruct His children is to assume that we do not need all that God has provided for us, to think this way could be detrimental to our spiritual well-being or even worse, it could shipwreck our faith. In our society we have coined the term “loner," but in the body of Christ, it is not so. Man’s original sin had to do with independence and wanting to govern and control his own life primarily because of a lack of trust in God. For these same reasons, many men and women stay away from the local church, opting to give only part of their allegiance to the Lord. I am aware of the abuses of power, the varying hypocrisies within the "church" today but that does not negate or excuse you and I from what God has called us to do. Many times we would rather analyze the problem from afar than become part of the solution. Many times we would rather use the churches’ or other christians’ short-comings to excuse our own disobedience. We know well this will not fly with God and when each of us stands before the Lord there will be no one else we will be able to blame for our disobedience; remember Adam tried that already and it didn't work. Jesus mandated that as His followers, we live by a higher standard than natural reasoning, He said for instance if someone were to wrong you by striking you on the cheek, for us to turn the other and offer that one as well. In other words, we can never become bitter or defiant to the Lord because of what others do or don't do. God allows these things in this world and in our very lives to test our hearts to see if we will obey Him even when it’s inconvenient or when it hurts or when it doesn't make sense to us, the question is will we walk the course He has set before us faithfully by relying upon Him?
Another response to the question regarding local church attendance I have heard is "I am in the process of looking for a church to go to", yet many times if we are honest with ourselves many are not earnestly seeking the Lord and desperately asking Him to lead us, instead we want to decide which church we are going to go to and how involved with it we will become. Many believe that they must like a church before they give their approval and commitment. Many times I have heard of non-church going christians and those who don't consider themselves christian who have a checklist of requirements that are not based on what the bible says, but are more or less preferences. The fact is, there is a biblical standard that is revealed in scripture that we should consider as it pertains to finding a church to attend and join. Here are some of the basics:
Is the Word of God preached and followed as the absolute and final authority, is there a practical preparation for the soon coming of the Lord through discipleship, is there an emphasis on sanctification, and evangelism? Is there a consistent form of reasonable accountability to the Word of God, is there a practical application of the Word; submission, transparency, and humility displayed by the leadership; in other words the fruit of the Spirit should be seen throughout the church...Is there a fear and reverence for God, is the Holy Spirit free to lead the church. Is there regular and intimate fellowship among the members inside and outside of the regular services?
Some see going to a church for the first time like going on a blind date that they were setup by a well-meaning friend. I wouldn’t recommend doing that to find a godly spouse nor would I encourage that method when looking for a church. That methodology leaves out a fundamental principle, “and He places us in the body as it pleases Him.” This requires that we are submitted to the will of God, it requires a prayerful and pliable heart and one that desires to do what God is asking us to do, even if it contradicts our preferences and/or natural understanding. If we require that the Lord only lead us in areas that we understand how will He be free to work miracles and supernatural things in our lives? Faith goes beyond the natural and joins God in submission within the spiritual realm. This is why the scriptures say in
Romans 12:2..."And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Jesus said, the Spirit of God would lead us into all truth. If we are in Christ, then we have a unique gift of faith, a gift that is not for us alone but for God to use to bless others. How can that gift be used to its full potential if we don’t allow God to show us where and how? How can we get blessed by those who refuse to fellowship, their gift is being buried in the ground and hiddened? Jesus spoke of a parable of a wicked servant who buried his talent (Matt 25:14-30) because he wanted to stay in control of it, he didn’t allow God to use it and multiply it. As you may already know of this passage, things did not turn out well for him when he stood before his Master on the last day.
I could go on and discuss the benefits of corporate prayer and worship, but I believe the biblical principles are clear, the bottom line is there are many more reasons for why we should go to church on a habitual basis than not with the number one reason being, the Lord said so.
I would have to say honestly speaking, I don’t always feel like going to church myself, I have my ups and downs as I’m sure most christians do, however by the grace of God I give place to those thoughts less and less as I have come to realize that I need to be obedient and I also need the body of Christ in order to be what God has called me to be, it’s for my good and God's glory. I need to be able to give to others without expecting anything in return and also be humble enough to receive from others that which at the moment I may not see that I need. I have noticed in times past where I may have been praying about something and really wanting an answer from God, but He, in turn, may give my answer to someone else in the church and I find it through fellowship! He accomplished multiple things in that scenario, He taught me to have a love and appreciation for all of God’s children as His Spirit lives in them too, and also He reminds me that I don’t know it all and that the Lord is the source even if He doesn’t do it the way that I would prefer. I can never have a "me and Jesus" kind of an attitude to the point where my actions say I don’t really trust other christians and I’m living a life of suspicion and distrust for everyone but myself. Again, this is a process for sure, I will be the first to say the Lord has brought me a long way and I still have a long way to go, but we all have to start somewhere, right? So what do we do? In those times you prayerfully “swallow hard”, and you step out in faith and let God strengthen you along the path of obedience.
That brings me to my last and final point. All that was shared on this topic is assuming that only a true believer can be a living part of the body of Christ in the first place. If you haven’t made that once-and-for-all commitment to Jesus Christ, if you haven’t been born again according to John 3:3, then it would be fair to assume getting to know Him better, growing and maturing in the Lord may, or may not be a real priority in your life. And consequently going to church would not be a real priority either. Though going to church in and of itself cannot save us, as there are many who go to church regularly who don’t know Jesus at all (remember I was one of them), but on the flip side there are far fewer that really know Him that don’t attend church on a regular basis. The key ingredient in all of this is faith and humility. It takes humility to admit that we need Jesus to save us, that we need Jesus to sanctify us and free us from our sinful, selfish nature and it takes humility to say we are new to this Christian thing, and we need some help, we need a Pastor, we need other men and women of God who have been through this to help us. It takes faith to trust God to guide you and I through this minefield of religion and churches and life itself to get us to heaven. Yet, it’s a journey we must make, and one that Jesus strongly encourages us not to go alone.
I hope this is a blessing to you. If you have more questions whether from the Bible aspect of anything that was shared, please let me know. I’ll be praying for you as well as myself that we would continue to grow in the knowledge of God's will for our lives!