I'm a Christian but I don't go to church

 

“I’m a Christian, but I don’t go to church.” Have you heard people say that? Perhaps you’ve said it yourself.

It’s worth just pausing to ask what we mean by a Christian here. Not just a Brit or a Westerner. Or a nice, moral person who tries to do the decent thing. Giving to charity is fantastic, but it’s not what we mean by being a Christian. The basic Christian confession is “Jesus Christ is Lord.” To be a Christian is to deliberately trust Jesus as your Saviour and to seek to obey him as your Lord. We all mess up in many ways, but Christians depend on Jesus and want to follow him as his disciples – apprentices who learn from him.

Of course going to church doesn’t make someone a Christian, any more than going to MacDonalds would make you a hamburger.

But Christians ought to go to church. The Bible teaches that. And Christians have always thought so. From the most ancient times, Christians have gathered on The Lord’s Day morning, the first day of the week, Sunday, Resurrection Day, to celebrate the Christian Sabbath, just as the risen Lord Jesus met with his disciples. We are not to give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.

Church is just part of the deal. If you belong to Jesus you belong to his church, to his people, his body. You cannot have the head without the body. The church is the ark in the world. Outside the church there is no salvation. If you’re a Christian you are part of the universal invisible church, and you ought to be baptised and join up with a visible historical church somewhere. You are a church member. Don’t be an absentee church member!  

But it’s not so much that Christians have to go to church. Rather, Christians get to go to church! If the truth be told, church is not always all that it might be. You’re not. I’m not. People get things wrong and rub up against each other. Maybe the music could be improved or the preacher will be dull or…. But church is a wonderful privilege. Here (ideally) are people from all backgrounds and ages, from all around the world, brought together by Jesus. Saved sinners like you who have been made family. We may differ in many ways, but we have God as our Father and Jesus as our brother and the Spirit indwells us.

Church is a royal command performance. Jesus is there in a special way with two or three who meet in his name. We confess our sins and are assured of his forgiveness. We sing his praises. We hear his Word. He feeds us in his Supper. He blesses us. And we enjoy one another’s company. We are equipped and sent out to live for Him. What could possibly be better than this? This is the best and most important, most wonderful hour and a bit of the week on which all else depends. This time of special gathered worship helps us to worship Jesus with our whole lives.

You ought to go to church.

You get to go to church!

Not only that, but you need to go to church. The Bible knows of no lone ranger Christians. A coal taken out of the fire will soon grow cold. You need the help and encouragement of other believers.

Possibly you could try to survive as Christian without going to church, but it might be a bit like subsisting on a diet of bread and water. I really can’t recommend it.  

And your church needs you! We are part of one body. And whether you’re a hand, a foot, a nose or an eye, you are wanted and needed. The body is dismembered and dysfunctional without you.

So see you on Sunday!