Maybe instead of getting stumped trying to answer the old question, “Do I really have to go to church to be saved, to go to heaven, to be a Christian, etc...?†maybe it’s time congregations ask ourselves what is it about our reputation that turns people away or leads them to believe churches are phony. Sadly, many people skip gathering with a church even though they are curious about matters of faith.
In other words, perhaps churches need to think about why many people are interested in “the Man upstairs,†but these same people say “Give me Jesus, keep the church.†As a church, we need to think about why are they looking for a hall pass, a loophole, a permission slip, an absence excuse. What is the source of their contempt or disinterest in Sunday morning worship services?
Most believers subscribe to the idea that to be considered faithful, church attendance is a responsibility, a duty, an obligation. None of those categories sound fun, interesting or exciting. So maybe, the first reason people evade and avoid the church building is because they assume it will be boring — once in awhile even a broken clock is right, so they might have a point here.
Another idea is the fact that there are congregations who are more than critical and less than welcoming. If you don’t fit their mold, you remain on the outside looking in. These same congregations appear to be on the judgmental side.
Then there are people who believe worship services are out of touch with the real world and that we are geared toward promoting blind faith, being anti-intellectual, anti-science, and we are more or less a gathering of flat-earthers — not necessarily mouth-breathers, just irrelevant and uneducated. After all, didn’t the church blind Galileo?
Then, there’s the opinion that the church is only interested in your money. The hypocrisy of it all.
Perhaps these are our consequences when instead of becoming fishers of men, we became keepers of the aquarium. Maybe those resistors have a point.
Has the church lost sight of the value of differing viewpoints, backgrounds and ethnicities? Paul was clear, the church is one body that is made up of various members who are attached by the Spirit, not by their similarities: “12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit.†(I Cor 12:12-13)
Has the church misunderstood the purpose of gathering together? Some misuse Hebrews 10 to make the case for gathering on Sunday mornings, but the passage has nothing to do with any day of the week or for that matter a building: “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.â€
The Greek word for “meet together†isn’t “ecclesia†for church assemblies, it is “episunagoge,†which is deeper and more significant than sitting in a pew, it is about an inspirational community-based integrated lifestyle that goes far beyond a Sunday morning worship service.
So yes, the next time someone asks if they “have to†go to church, let’s remember that we are the church and the church isn’t a building, it is the people, people who gather in the name of Jesus to break bread, share Scripture, pray together, and nurture and encourage each other.
And, instead of being annoyed or irritated by this age-old question of the necessity of church attendance, be inspired to help restore their trust in the church through authentic friendships, genuine care and Christian love — instead of just inviting people to a church building or event, let’s actually be the church.
Craig Cottongim is the minister at New Song Church in Kingsport. Email him at craigcottongim@gmail.com.
