Faulty Thinking
"I don't have to go to church to be a Christian." If I've heard this statement once, I've heard it a thousand times. Usually, it comes from the mouths of uncommitted, unfaithful people, who have talked themselves into mediocre Christian living. Their relationship with Christ has become surface-level only. I cannot judge their heart but they usually come up short in the "fruit" department!
Of course, in the final analysis, this statement is true. Shut-ins, those physically handicapped, Sunday employees, and perhaps others say this with the understanding that serving Christ is a matter of the heart. Some of them long to be in the house of God, and would give anything to be there.
I study people. God often gives me insights into the behaviors I witness. All of us are broken. Life has a way of hurting us, all the way from our family of origin into our adult years. For example, the other day, I met a man who I had not seen in seven years. The man I remembered was kind, well-spoken, godly, and very loving. Now, he is cynical, potty-mouthed, very opinionated, and hard to engage. He is an unhappy man. What happened? I believe he became desensitized by the world and culture. He forsook regular attendance to a house of faith. He quit going to church!
Let me explain. This man and many others like him decide one day to absent themselves from a local church. They blame pastors, offenses, anointed preaching that convicts of sin, and offer other excuses why they left their church family. Over time, because they no longer sit under the tenderizing, anointing of the Holy Spirit; they become hardened and convoluted in their thinking. Old habits and old friends surface again and become the norm in their lives. They buy into the lies of the enemy. In short, their thinking processes run amok.
Precious saints, the preached Word and anointed worship keep us on track. When they are negated, we become desensitized to righteous living. Justification sets in. We start doing what is right in our own eyes (Judges 21:25).
No, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian; however, when you make a decision to stay home, or go elsewhere on Sundays, you in essence are making a statement that takes you on a slippery slide.
As for me, I need the church. My life's direction was set on course by a local church. I have found rich fellowship, in the Word and with people, as I've navigated life. I remember when my wife's parents were tragically killed in a car accident in 1995. Had it not been for a local church, we would have suffered and grieved alone. I remember when our oldest child, Sarah, was rushed to the ER in the middle of the night with an acute asthma attack. It was touch and go for a while. Then, the elders of our church came and prayed, and God touched her. She was healed! I have many other stories that relate the blessings my family and I have received by making church a regular part of our lives.
Often, I hear, "The church is not a building." And that's true. So, to be one-hundred percent accurate, the church goes to church. The blood-bought, blood washed people of God constitute the church. Perhaps, however, you have forgotten the details that God issued to King Solomon regarding the construction of the original Temple in Jerusalem. The Lord placed a high premium on construction materials and design. The Lord subsequently poured out a heavy anointing in that beautiful structure. In 2 Chronicles 5:14 we read about the dedication service of that ancient wonder: "So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God."
I want to be where the glory cloud is! I need His corporate presence in my life, as well as the anointing that's mine daily as I walk in obedience to the indwelling Spirit, and practice the disciplines of the Faith. I often use the following analogy: Everyday life in the Spirit compares to a 110 volt electrical outlet. Corporate worship makes available a 220 volt connection! Wow? That's what I want, and church (a given location) is where I find it.
Those who refuse to commit to a local church, openly disobey the writer of Hebrews when he says in 10:25, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as is the custom of some, but all the more when you see the day approaching (the rapture)." I beg you. Let nothing or no one keep you from regular, weekly church attendance.