Why Go To Church?
You may want to share this month’s letter from the Pastor with friends, family members, or strangers. That is because I am answering a question that many have asked. The question is “Do you think it’s important to go to church regularly?”
I get a lot of religious questions asked of me. That’s ok! Most people know I’m a minister and the questions help me stay in touch with the teachings of The Bible and The Good News, the Gospels.
This particular question was asked recently by a good friend. She is smart, well educated, and has a long history of religious involvement. Yet, like many folks today, she has gotten out of the practice of attending services on a regular basis. It’s a truth and does not discriminate among the various Christian denominations.
There was a time in America when the church was the focal point of a community’s culture and calendar. Families would make it a priority to attend church services and functions almost every time the church’s “doors were open.”
Sundays featured several hours of church programming. The day started with age-segregated Sunday school classes, followed by the church’s morning worship service. The Sunday evening schedule often included meetings for teenagers or a “training union” that transitioned into the church’s evening service. Many families also used Sunday nights as an occasion to “fellowship” with other church families. Most churches also hosted mid-week services, like prayer meetings in the church auditorium, and a structured children’s program, or youth group gatherings on another night of the week.
Times have certainly changed. The majority of Americans no longer attend church on a weekly basis and many of today’s “practicing” Christians only attend one church service per month.
Factors for the decline in church attendance are varied but include the availability of religious content online, the proliferation of other activities for family members on weekends (like the propensity and popularity of youth sports), and the general increase of a more secular mindset for many Americans.
Bearing this in mind, here was my initial answer: The most important reason for God’s people to attend church is that the church is God’s idea.
Church is God’s idea. Matthew 6:18 states, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
I went on to say, “The church is where God’s people are taught God’s Word so they can grow spiritually. The focal point of local church ministry is to clearly teach and preach the Word of God.”
Then I got the canned ultimate comment. “But I’m a good person!”
My answer: “That’s great, so was I. However, I still had a huge void in my life and was full of bitterness and frustration, and I still had no purpose.
Being a ‘good’ person doesn’t get you anywhere, either by religious standards or otherwise. In fact if you want to succeed according to society’s standards you really have to be more of a ‘bad’ person. Significant wealth, power and fame, everything we all need to be content and happy according to society, often can only be gained through lies, cheating, backstabbing and sacrificing relationships. Not your typical ‘good’ person stuff.
So if that’s not a lifestyle for you, then it sounds to me like you’re already interested in living the way God desires you to live.
I am not the ultimate in Biblical Scholarship. I am as human as everyone else, but have learned the truth lies within the doors of the House of God. Jesus Himself stimulated the disciples to question and understand the amazing life they saw blossoming before them, the life of Christ.
This is a brief explanation of a very large question that continues to grow. That’s where I come inI am sure you have realized by now I am a very easy person to talk to. I feel I understand people well and am not in the least judgmental. Should you know anyone that is questioning church, their faith, their existence, I am available to talk. I have made my church office a safe and confidential place where people of all ages can come and ask the tough questions. Refer a friend. It’s easy, fulfilling, and free!
Next month I will answer the question: Can Science Prove the Existence of God?
Blessings in the month of August