While I was at my job outside of the church, my young professing Christian co-worker made a remark about receiving one those chain e-mails that tells you to forward it to a certain amount of people to receive a blessing (I got it too and ended up deleting it). He made the comment, that as his youth pastor said, he didn't need to do that to prove he loved Jesus, or to be blessed. And how right he is. But one of my other co-workers quickly responded to him that she didn't need to go to church to love God (by the way, this is the same person that doesn't believe all of the bible is the word of God, that 'works' plays a part in salvation, and that non Christians will go to heaven.)
Well certainly it is true, that a person doesn't "have" to go to church to prove they love the Lord. A person doesn't have to, and can't go to church to be saved and go to heaven. What should be the attitude of a Christian and church? A Christian goes to church because they want to. It is a result of a changed heart and life, that a born again/regenerated believer wants to read and study God's word, wants to go to church, wants to fellowship with other believers and worship and serve the Lord together with them. They want to because of what Christ did for them in saving them from their sins through His finished work on the cross. They want to because they want to obey the Lord and what He says in His word about the local church. Is God's word silent about being a member of a local church, and what church that should be? In our society with multiple churches of differing belief systems to choose from, does it matter what church you become a part of? Absolutely, the word of God is not silent on this. Yes we can worship and serve the Lord outside the local church, and we should! But there are a number of reasons why we assemble as believers in a local church. God knows we need the fellowship, so we are to go to encourage and comfort one another, and stimulate one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:23-25). We are to regularly celebrate the Lord's Supper to remember His death till He returns (1Cor. 11:22-32). We are to water baptize new believers (Acts 2:38). We are to use the gifts that God has given us to edify the body of Christ in the local church (Eph. 4:11-12; Rom. 12; 1Cor. 12). We are to hold on another accountable and if necessary reprove, rebuke and discipline one another to encourage repentance and restoration (Mt. 18; Gal. 6; 1Cor. 5; 2Cor. 2; 2Tim. 4). We go to church to hear the word of God proclaimed and taught to us, to worship the Lord in Spirit and truth, be conformed to the image of Christ, and grow in His grace.
So on one hand, yes it is an option. But in reality, it is something that a Christian should do, and should "want" to do. If they are not, then they are disobeying God, and may very well be evidencing that they are not saved, regardless of their profession. We cannot seperate Christ from His Church anymore than we can seperate God from His Word or the Godhead from One Another. And the issue usually boils down to people not wanting that accountability, and not wanting to be told anything from God and His word. It's just usually a sign of an unregenerate heart. Now I'm not saying that there will not be situations from time to time, where a true believer struggles because of a genuinely bad church situation in their past. But God's Spirit will enable them to overcome that. A Christian should not give up "church" anymore than a person should give up gas because they got some bad gas somewhere, or stop working because they had a bad employer in the past. But it is also possible that a Christian may struggle to find a good solid biblical church to go to. They shouldn't go to just any church. And more and more often, Christians have to look harder and drive further to find a biblical church. What is a biblical church? Well, I'll be writing a paper on that soon that will contain 3 catagories of "acceptable" churches. But to summarize for now in this blog post, it is a church that glorifies God, honors the Lord Jesus Christ, and centers on His word. They believe the word of God is authoritative and sufficient for God's people, and endeavor to proclaim the whole counsel of God through expository preaching and teaching, not entertain with watered down lyrics in music, drama, preaching and teaching, etc. A Church that regularly baptizes and remembers the Lord Jesus through the Lord's Supper. Do you want to go to church? Are you going to a biblical church? May God receive the glory He alone deserves!
Well certainly it is true, that a person doesn't "have" to go to church to prove they love the Lord. A person doesn't have to, and can't go to church to be saved and go to heaven. What should be the attitude of a Christian and church? A Christian goes to church because they want to. It is a result of a changed heart and life, that a born again/regenerated believer wants to read and study God's word, wants to go to church, wants to fellowship with other believers and worship and serve the Lord together with them. They want to because of what Christ did for them in saving them from their sins through His finished work on the cross. They want to because they want to obey the Lord and what He says in His word about the local church. Is God's word silent about being a member of a local church, and what church that should be? In our society with multiple churches of differing belief systems to choose from, does it matter what church you become a part of? Absolutely, the word of God is not silent on this. Yes we can worship and serve the Lord outside the local church, and we should! But there are a number of reasons why we assemble as believers in a local church. God knows we need the fellowship, so we are to go to encourage and comfort one another, and stimulate one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:23-25). We are to regularly celebrate the Lord's Supper to remember His death till He returns (1Cor. 11:22-32). We are to water baptize new believers (Acts 2:38). We are to use the gifts that God has given us to edify the body of Christ in the local church (Eph. 4:11-12; Rom. 12; 1Cor. 12). We are to hold on another accountable and if necessary reprove, rebuke and discipline one another to encourage repentance and restoration (Mt. 18; Gal. 6; 1Cor. 5; 2Cor. 2; 2Tim. 4). We go to church to hear the word of God proclaimed and taught to us, to worship the Lord in Spirit and truth, be conformed to the image of Christ, and grow in His grace.
So on one hand, yes it is an option. But in reality, it is something that a Christian should do, and should "want" to do. If they are not, then they are disobeying God, and may very well be evidencing that they are not saved, regardless of their profession. We cannot seperate Christ from His Church anymore than we can seperate God from His Word or the Godhead from One Another. And the issue usually boils down to people not wanting that accountability, and not wanting to be told anything from God and His word. It's just usually a sign of an unregenerate heart. Now I'm not saying that there will not be situations from time to time, where a true believer struggles because of a genuinely bad church situation in their past. But God's Spirit will enable them to overcome that. A Christian should not give up "church" anymore than a person should give up gas because they got some bad gas somewhere, or stop working because they had a bad employer in the past. But it is also possible that a Christian may struggle to find a good solid biblical church to go to. They shouldn't go to just any church. And more and more often, Christians have to look harder and drive further to find a biblical church. What is a biblical church? Well, I'll be writing a paper on that soon that will contain 3 catagories of "acceptable" churches. But to summarize for now in this blog post, it is a church that glorifies God, honors the Lord Jesus Christ, and centers on His word. They believe the word of God is authoritative and sufficient for God's people, and endeavor to proclaim the whole counsel of God through expository preaching and teaching, not entertain with watered down lyrics in music, drama, preaching and teaching, etc. A Church that regularly baptizes and remembers the Lord Jesus through the Lord's Supper. Do you want to go to church? Are you going to a biblical church? May God receive the glory He alone deserves!
Comments
Very nice commentary. You are the Tony Danza of all Danzamans. :) Seriously though, you bring up a lot of good points. Even though a lot of people want to say that you don't "need" to go to church to be a Christian, they should essentially have that desire in their heart if they truly desire to dig deeper into the Word and get personal with our savior (Amen?). The goal of church is not to just be individual people worshipping, but a solid body of believers. You already know all this! :) I'll end on this note: going to church doesn't get you into heaven, but just like being on our knees (in prayer), we should find ourselves drawn to be in worship and in the Word of our Heavenly Father. (And all the people said...AMEN!)