Posted on the Isaiah 53:5 Project
I have better things to do than go to church. Do I have to go to be a Christian?
Church attendance in the West, even among Christians, is falling. According to a recent study, attendance at church services in any given week has declined among Christians by 9 percent since 1991. Now only a minority of Christians (47 percent) can be found at church during a typical week.1
In a culture that sees independence and self-reliance as hallmarks of a truly successful person, church can feel like an imposition on our time and energy. We ask if we have to go to church in the same reluctant way we might ask, “Do I have to go to the dentist?”
But what if followers of Jesus only truly flourished when in community with other like-minded believers? What if true fulfillment could only be found in serving them rather than ourselves?
Church in the Bible
The Bible certainly makes a strong case for being at church regularly. Jesus himself assumes that his followers will gather together habitually in self-governing “churches.”2 The writer of the book of Hebrews is explicit: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”3
According to the Bible, believers should meet together regularly so that they can
- hear God’s Word taught faithfully;4
- pray together;5
- be accountable to one another;6
- encourage one another;7
- use God-given spiritual gifts for the benefit of fellow believers;8
- exercise church discipline with the aim of restoring a person who is caught in a particular sin;9
- support one another in suffering;10
- rejoice with each other;11
- commemorate Jesus’ death and resurrection;12
- serve one another;13
- bear with one another;14
- offer hospitality to one another;15
- love one another;16 and
- demonstrate the power and goodness of Jesus to a watching world.17
This list is far from exhaustive. As you read the New Testament, it’s hard to miss how many commands contain the phrase “one another.”
The New Testament describes each gathered group of believers as “the body of Christ.” Just as with a human body, each part of the body of Christ needs the others.18 Each believer is a “hand” or an “eye” or a “foot,” and just as it would be self-defeating for the foot to say, “I don’t like this leg; I’m leaving,” so it is when a believer stops attending church or refuses to settle in one church. The church suffers and so does the believer.
Truth in Palmyra 
August 9, 2015 at 08:28
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging and commented:
Love this article!
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August 9, 2015 at 10:03
I started to write a short reply to this, but it ended up being much longer that I anticipated. I copied it into a separate post as to not comment bomb here.
In short, I think this is misdirecting the entire question of what Church is as I’ve come to know her.
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August 9, 2015 at 12:03
I will read your post John, thanks for the comment
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August 9, 2015 at 13:02
Hey John Read that. I don’t take exception with all that you said, as the church today does indeed have many problems which need to be solved. I nonetheless continue to believe that we are taught that a local, called out assembly of believers is how Jesus wants us to serve Him. Maybe I am just blessed to be part of an assembly that is all about correct preaching of the Word inside and taking it outside to tell the rest of the world.
Finally, the only problem I have with some things I read from folks concerned about the local church is the theme among people that the local church in and of itself is a bad thing, and that to encourage people to find a local church home is somehow a bad thing. It’s not.
Thanks for commenting by the way.
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August 9, 2015 at 20:52
I agree that the best reflection of Body life can be experienced in personal, face to face relationships with others. I just don’t see this happening much in the settings we call church.
Note, I don’t believe relationship is impossible in those settings, but the program has to be heavily managed. Even when the leadership has the best of intentions, it can still drain the life out of relationship. We end up spending so much time managing the system that we lose site of the intimacy of relationship with God and others. Eventually, it becomes an obligation to fulfill week after week, event after event.
I’ve found it far more effective to walk alongside others so they can see Jesus through my everyday life. Likewise, I have brothers and sisters that are further along in their spiritual journey and show me how to attain that same growth without forcing it on me. These are the true elders of the Body, those that lead from beside, not just from a weekly speech that only gives a temporary emotional charge.
It seems the problems of the institution will always be prevalent as long as there are management tasks to accomplish, expectations to uphold, and those who feel they have to direct others’ relationship with God instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to lead.
We may always disagree on how the Bible is to be understood. We can pit individual passages and scenarios against each other. We can view it as a rule book, or as a resource that helps along in our walk. However, it may be beneficial to take a step back and look at the past 1700 years of organized religion and ask—Is it really working the way we say it should? Is our representation of Christ’s Body evident to the world, or are our stances having the opposite effect? Are we truly living like Jesus did or are we just following a set of mandates to replicate a Christian lifestyle?
Have we really understood the effect Jesus means for us to have in the world? Is the full and free Christian life we see in the Bible really what we are experiencing?
And there I go, comment bombing :). I truly meant to write a simple reply but the words just flowed into this.
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August 10, 2015 at 04:40
Hey John, don’t worry about comment bombing. Comment threads are for that, commenting right? So, I don’t mind long comments at all. Mine don’t tend to run that long, but that is mostly because I tend to say what I say quickly. But, seriously, I don’t mind. I appreciate the participation in fact.
I get that in way to many cases, the institution has become more important than the work, and I would be a fool to deny that. I would also agree that church has hurt many people. Shame on them for that. But the church remains a local, visible assembly of believers meeting and organizing to perform God’s work. Has the definition of local changes in an internet age? Very likely it may have. I also get that no local church of good standing is even available to some people, as not every body lives in a place where there is a true New Testament church on every corner.
My writing on this subject is geared toward a particular group of people. John, I know that you know there are people using the flaws in the church to simply excuse themselves from service to God. You know, “the church is all messed up, so I don’t have to do anything.” It seems like you are continuing to to God’s work in and through your life, and that’s wonderful. This shoe may not fit, so please don’t wear it. But, for others, the message remains a good one. Some do need to get busy doing God’s work, and the local church provides them a place to do that.
“I just don’t see this happening much in the settings we call church.” I see that happening all of the time; in fact, I am surrounded by that. Maybe I am just extra blessed, but that very thing remains common where I live. I really hate that that has not been your experience.
On organization and institutionalization. To an extent, the local church needs to be organized. We actually see Jesus and the apostles after His death conducting things which required some actually organization and leadership, particularly to accomplish objectives requiring cooperation among local bodies of believers and even within the local body of believers. Replacing Judas is a great example. That required and organized process, albeit a small one.
But, certain works to be effective, require some organization and even infrastructure. Missionary work is a great example. One of our jobs is to reach the uttermost parts of the earth. That takes time, money, resources and organization. 3 believers in a living room will never get a man or woman to Mongolia to start a work. (I only use that because our work actually has a missionary there LOL).
Last note. I understand completely the many concerns people have about the local church today, and I don’t dismiss them at all. I see it as my role to not abandon the church over them but rather work in the church to help bring it back to what Jesus envisioned. My last concern is that there are those among the ones who feel disenfranchised by today’s church who not only feel that way, but are developing a real tendency to actually dismiss the local church as an institution worthy of respect. There are even some who actually would say I am somehow less than a real, contemporary Christian for supporting what they say is a dated, useless thing. It’s very personal to some people, not you from what I see, that I am somehow failing for my stance on this issue. Isn’t that kind of doing the same thing that has been pointed out as a failing in the organized church?
Anyway, thanks for reading and commenting John.
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August 10, 2015 at 05:47
Some very good comments Wally. From what you’re saying, it seems that the local congregations you’re near have a rather good structure that allows for true fellowship. Many of the congregations I’ve been in locally seem to have lost the sense of that, though, looking through their history, it doesn’t seem they’ve ever had it.
I often ask God if I should help in any way to reform the local congregations, but as difficult as it may be, he led me away from that. By following him, I’ve seen him work in unimaginable ways to provide for me personally and have me serve others that weren’t being reached.
My “tithe” generally goes to missionary type work. There’s two water projects I’ve been financially involved with in Africa, both Christian based, both with no overhead expenses, and both working from outside of the local congregations, but at the same time, working with people of those congregations who want to help. In this, they’ve set up temporary structures for support, but nothing that requires permanence.
What my view and experience of the Church has been is a dynamic body of believers that function to serve others. Some of those relationships are for a season, some for a lifetime. People come in and around my life as the Holy Spirit leads them. For me, it’s been truly amazing seeing what God can do when just allowing him to work as he desires.
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August 10, 2015 at 06:09
You know I can get that John. The important thing is you are going where you are called and not where you prefer if that distinction makes sense. From what your profile shares you may not be the guy to troop into a local assembly and push to change it. On the other hand I am exactly that guy. Not all are the eye or not all are the hand right? All different parts of the body but still the body as we are taught.
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August 9, 2015 at 11:48
again wally, we ARE the church which meets Everywhere and Anywhere and Anytime we gather ‘two or three’
I agree with john. total misdirection.
-mike
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August 9, 2015 at 12:02
Well thanks Mike, but you and I disagree. Peace.
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August 9, 2015 at 12:41
The point was that you disagree on unbiblical grounds.
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August 9, 2015 at 12:45
And we disagree on that. Peace. I stand behind the post as posted.
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