Why Go to Church?

I have met many people who are professing Christians but cannot see the need to regularly attend church.  There are a vast amount of good reasons to do so.  The primary reason is that God's Word commands us to.  Hebrews 10:23-25 reads, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."  Gathering together to pray, worship God through song and the preaching of God's Word are also modeled throughout scripture.  Because all born again Christians are part of the universal Body of Christ, we have all been given talents and gifts to glorify God and edify the church.  It is impossible to edify a local or international Body of Christ without personal involvement.

God lamented concerning His people in Hosea 4:6, "My people perish for lack of knowledge."  God has given us the Bible so we might know His character, understand His will, and hear His voice.  It is possible to read the scriptures, understand the words on a mental or literary level, but not comprehend or apply what is being said.  It is for this purpose God has gifted people in the church to teach and preach.  We see this provision supplied even in the Old Testament.  Nehemiah 8:8 gives a descriptive example of this:  "So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading."  In Nehemiah's day, the people had not heard the scriptures read for some time, much less explained.  Ezra the scribe and other men stood at a pulpit of wood and opened the Book of the Law in the sight of the people and helped the people to make sense of what was written.  They carefully observed the text, interpreted it in light of other scripture, and applied it practically to the lives of the people.

Though this is a God-ordained way of people learning from the Bible, a gross abuse developed over the years.  Spread across millenia and spanning various Bible-believing groups, men were "put on a pedestal" as the chosen oracles of God.  God provided His Word so all men could learn of Him, yet a misconception was perpetuated among both clergy and laity.  The clergy saw their role as to discern truth from heresy, and their faithful followers did not consider themselves able to lay hold of the truth alone.  Therefore the understanding of the scriptures were seen as reserved for a select few chosen ones.  Even priests must bow to a traditional stance which is passed to the people.  This view continues in some circles to this day.

When Jesus Christ came to earth, He explained the scriptures in a way that the Pharisees and Scribes could not.  Being the Author, Jesus had authority to rightly divide the Word of Truth.  Luke 24:45 tells of Christ's interactions with His followers:  "And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."  Not only did Jesus make sense of the scriptures, He enabled men through the Holy Spirit to lay hold of them and apply them correctly.  Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell His people so they might be taught by God Himself, not relying upon the word of any man to interpret and apply them.  John 16:12-13 states, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

It is ironic that after God sent the Holy Spirit, men have adopted a different error:  they do not make a practice of being taught the Word by a pastor or teacher and justify this because they have the Spirit who already teaches them all things.  This is partially true.  It is true that all genuine believers have the Spirit of God within them, but that does not mean we should shun messages God delivers through men called for this purpose.  Those who cannot seem to endure church fellowship sometimes stand in harsh judgment of presentation styles and personalities, acting like the clergy of old:  terriers of orthodoxy, bristling dogmatics, devoid of grace, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.  They cannot find a church that suits them because they have some quarrel with church structure, the age of the pastor, perceived hypocrisy, or a multitude of trite minutiae.  Instead of seeking to be suitable for God's service in a God believing, Christ-honouring, Bible teaching church, they cannot find a church suitable for them.  As they dry out spiritually without the support and fellowship of God-fearing brothers and sisters in Christ, the belief in the existence of an adequate church fellowship erodes.  Having separated themselves from the flock they are open to doubts, attacks, and error.  Without spiritual exercise through fellowship, spiritual atrophy is certain.  Without like-minded believers to sharpen their countenance and conscience, dullness follows.

So what is the balance?  Let us be those who are filled with the Holy Spirit, having had our understanding opened to comprehend the scriptures through faith in Christ.  Let us also seek fellowship among God fearing, Bible teaching churches with pastors and teachers gifted by God to do so.  Even pastors need solid Biblical teaching.  A man cannot rightly teach unless he has first been taught by God.  God graciously uses both His Word and people anointed by the Holy Spirit to do this.  Receive the exhortation and encouragement from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24:  "Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil. ²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."