Often, I hear people say, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.” Is that true? Do you really need to “go to church” to be a Christian? Or can you just worship from home in your nice cozy covers? Or pray at home with your family?
Personally, I believe people say they “don’t need to go to church to be a Christian” because they just don’t want to go. If you don’t go to church every time the doors open, I am not calling you a terrible person. I just want to encourage you to rethink your priorities. Are you not going to church because you would rather do something else?
In some situations, “going to church” is not an option. Some people are unable to go to church because they don’t have transportation to get there, or maybe they work on Sundays or work odd hours or have parents that won’t take them. If you are sick or have the flu, please do not go to church. I encourage everyone to find a church and go there as much as you can; however, if you are unable to go, there are millions of online churches and livestream services. Just don’t use the excuse, “I can just watch it online” to avoid other people.
To answer your question, I am going to ask a question, “Why is the church there?” I live in South Carolina where there is a church building on every corner. One Sunday, my husband and I counted over 25 churches between our house and a 45 minute drive to the church we were attending (and those were just the ones we could see from the main road). Churches are everywhere, but why?
My #1 Reason for believers to go to church: “If we are truly “the Church (believers in Christ as a whole)” then we should desire to get together with other believers regularly. We are not meant to live life alone. It’s important to worship together, pray together, and encourage others in their walk with Christ. Do you desire to go to church?
Here are a few reasons why it IS IMPORTANT to go to church:
- The church is a place where people can gather together and worship God, the Creator and King.
- The church is meant to be a place where people encourage each other and build relationships to help them through life.
- Church should be a “safe haven” where people in need can turn to when they need assistance (spiritual, physical, or emotional). A homeless person or person in need should always be able to reach out to a local church for help.
- Church is not just a “hang out” for Christians. When a person becomes a Christian, other believers should gather with them and welcome them as family. The Bible says we are brothers and sisters in Christ. How often do you see or contact your brothers, sisters, family members, and friends? If we are all a spiritual family, don’t you think we should meet together?
- Church is a place for renewal and remembrance. Life is busy, and you are not intentional about making time for God, you will leave Him out. Making a commitment to attend church is a showing God that you are giving Him some of your time to devote yourself fully to worshiping and learning more about Him. How deep is your devotion to Christ?
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 - The Bible tells us multiple times to ‘love one another’ ‘encourage” “teach” “disciple others” How can you do that with other believers if you never attend church?
- Yes, YOU are the church, not the building you go to; however, gathering in a house of worship is a great way to remind yourself that you are not in this fight alone.
- Your team is at your church, not on your couch or boat. Your “team” is your church family. I know that when I have a prayer need, I can depend on my church family to pray for me. So often people take their prayer requests to Facebook or other social media sites and expect every person that likes or throws up a prayer emoji to pray for them. Do you really think a prayer emoji counts as a prayer for your struggles? Praying with your church family is vital to the Christian life. Do you have a church family you can depend on to pray for you? If not, I encourage you to find a church, build relationships with other Christians, and serve God together. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
- Church builds community. A person that works alone cannot complete as much work as a person that has hundreds of people helping them out. When you go to church, you gain helpers to work beside you for the glory of God. Together, you can change the world. Imagine if there were empty churches everywhere and no one to lead Vacation Bible School? How many of you would not be saved? I know of a lot of people that were saved at VBS. Without churches that serve together and host VBS each year, how many children would never know about God? ”
“ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Colossians 3:16 - Going to church is a place where your Pastor and leaders can guide you through God’s word. The Bible is not always easy to understand, and Google does not have the answer for everything. Plus, if Google does have the answer for Biblical questions, how do you know which website to trust? It’s important to go to church to learn from others about your Heavenly Father.
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Romans 10:17 - You can’t sit still and expect God to move you. You have to take a step of faith and actually do something. Church is a great starting point.
- Why go to church? You need to. You may not always wake up on Sunday morning and want to get out bed to go to church, but you need to. God has a message just for you, but you can’t hear Him without letting Him speak to you.
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:2 - God equipped your Pastors, leaders, and teachers in your life for a reason. “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. ” Ephesians 4:11-13
I pray that this will encourage you to go to church next Sunday. If you already attend church on a regular basis, invite a friend next time. It’s time to introduce them to your spiritual family members.
May God bless you and show you His love and grace every day!