Psalm 122:1 declares I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’ I absolutely love that verse. It has been true for me for as long as I can remember. I love to go to church. Almost all of the time.
But there have surely been times when I could not proclaim that verse in truth. I was not glad to go. Sleeping in an extra hour or just chilling at home seemed preferable. Sometimes I was physically tired but other times,the temptation to stay away was more emotional weariness.
Over the past several months, I’ve heard from many different people who shared the same thing. People who love Jesus and serve Him gladly…but sometimes experience a “lack of gladness” when it comes to being at church. For some of these dear folks, this lack has accumulated to the point where they don’t go to church at all. And the saddest part is, they aren’t sure they miss it.
I decided I needed to process this and thus, this post..
Church attendance or involvement or membership - whatever you want to call it. Is it necessary for Christians to belong to a local church? To allocate their resources with a group of organized believers? Is it really beneficial and if so, how? Isn’t it sufficient to read the Bible, maybe even listen to good podcasts, and just try to live right? What is the big deal about being part of a church? Seems outdated, right? And does it really matter anyway?
Well, what I think doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. I don’t even need to have an opinion (although I always do….) because the only opinion that matters is God’s . And His is not an opinion - it is bedrock truth.
Before you assume what I am going to say and tune me out, I want to lay my cards on the table. I LOVE church. I have been part of one since 9 months before I was born and seriously cannot imagine my life without it. Every time God has relocated me, finding a church home has been at the top of my family’s priority list. Church is the source of most of my activity and my relationships. Church - the local group of believers - matters to me. A LOT. I love church and I love church people. Most of all because church matters to Jesus. He loves church so much that He died to make her His Bride.
So I suppose you might be tempted to write off my opinions about church because I certainly seem biased. But before you do, I ask you to hear me out, to look at the rest of “my cards on the table”.
I understand about the hurt caused by the church.
I have witnessed and experienced times when the church has neglected and wounded and ignored and mistreated people who didn’t deserve it. I am quite familiar with the truth that politics are prevalent in church and that people are put in positions of power because of worldly rather than divine reasons. I,too, know the temptation to withdraw from “corporate church” because of unresolved conflict. I understand wanting to isolate oneself when injuries are dismissed, blame is wrongly assigned, and legitimate needs are overlooked.
I get it. I really do. And it hurts. I know it hurts.
And because none of us likes to hurt, it makes perfect sense that we would avoid what seems to be the source of pain. Or at least to refuse to align with such hypocrisy.
But opting out on church commitment is not the answer. Really, it’s not even an option.
Here are at least three reasons why:
It matters to God. He tells us in Hebrews 10:25 “not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but rather encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.” Church attendance is a matter of obedience. Notice the “assembling of ourselves together “ - can’t get that online. Church attendance is a matter of obedience. So is church involvement - God directs us through the Apostle Peter (I Peter 4:10) “as each of you has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” Using our gifts for the benefits of others - not an option. It is a matter of obedience. It’s quite clear - our commitment to church matters to God. And, while that should be the only reason that matters, Scripture gives us at least two more:
It matters to us. I Cor. 12:15-26 explains it this way - If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. It kinda sucker punches our pride, doesn’t it, to have to admit we need each other? But we do. In all sorts of ways. I need to be served with the gifts you have that I don’t have and you need the same from me. It’s a vulnerable thing, needing one another. We might let each other down. No “might” to it - we will and we do. But that’s part of God’s design. It humbles us. It gives us an opportunity to practice grace and forgiveness and unselfishness when we depend on one another and then are disappointed…or mistreated. It’s a whole boatload of opportunities for sanctification and encouragement- whether we are on the receiving end of serving or on the giving end. God uses every single one in a thousand different ways to transform us into the likeness of His Son. Yep, we need to be connected in ways that cause us to depend on and to be depended on by others. Oh, and not to mention accountability - ouch!
It matters to others. In about a million different places, Scripture emphasizes that not only does belonging to a local church body matter to us (#2 above) but it matters to others, too (continuing what I began in #2). Consider this passage -And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia . For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything 1 Thess 1:6-8
Notice the domino effect - Paul and Silvanus and Timothy led a life that the believers in Thessalonica could imitate and, consequently, the believers in Thessalonica led lives that were worthy of imitation in their city and the neighboring city and the entire region. That impact eventually spread all over the globe…and it’s still going. Places where Paul and his fellow workers had never been were affected by the Gospel because of the lives the Thessalonians believers led.
That’s powerful.
By faithfully connecting to a local church and living in obedience, you and I can change a city. And a region. And, yup, the world.
Friends, God is in the life-giving and life-changing business. And the vehicle He has chosen to work through (to limit Himself by :) ) is the Church. The Church. It’s messy sometimes. It’s hurtful sometimes. And inefficient and muddled and awkward sometimes. But God loves His Bride. He’s working ON His Bride and THROUGH His Bride.
Let’s not miss out on what He’s doing.