My wife has the car tomorrow, which means my journey to church will be a long and winding one. That immediately puts a barrier for me to go. It’s simply gonna be a hassle to get there.
But mark my words — I will make it. I haven’t figured out how yet — it’s dependant on the weather as much as anything else. But I will get there. Somehow. By the grace of God.
Honestly, no matter how I feel in myself, the question “should I go?" is never really one I ask. Even, maybe even especially, in the midst of some heartache or other, church is the best place to go (with the caveat that it’s a church that is faithful to God’s word.)
It is always worth the effort of going. There is much more I could say on this. But here are three interconnected reasons.
Firstly, there is the command for us to go — Hebrews 10:25. If we love Jesus we will follow his commands (John 14:15). Obeying His commands is both a result of our love for Him because of what He has done and a demonstration that we love him. Simply, if God says we oughta do something we should go ahead and do it.
But (secondly), going to church helps us follow the other commands. It isn’t that we rely on church alone for our spitual nourishment to fill us up for the rest of the week. It is like a big log on a fire. It does help fuel us in many ways, but you also need to keep adding kindling in our daily prayers and readings to help keep it going. In this weak analogy God is all three things that the fire needs (ignition, fuel, oxygen).
Church is the primary place in which we are built up to be God’s people (Ephesians 2:22). When we gather at church we hear God’s word preached, expounded, explained, to instruct us in His ways. We are convicted of our deepest need, and likely convicted of those habitual sins which we need to seek forgiveness for and throw off, and encouraged to keep on running. As we sing, we are further moved by the word, almost as much as the preaching (depending on the songs, of course, and the faithfulness of the preaching to God’s word.)
Of course (point three) we can listen to sermons, read books and have discussions outside of the church context. But none of that compares to actually going to church. Yeah, it can be hard because people are people and we can fall out (I know, because I am one of those people who often say the wrong thing.) But it’s interesting to note what isn’t written in Ephesians 2:22. What it says is “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling place in which God lives by his Spirit.”
It does not say “and in Him you too are being built alone with your podcasts and books…” Rather, says we are being built up together.
Jesus says the one who does his will is his brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35).
That means all of us who put their trust in Christ are brothers and sisters. As a family needs to meet together, we too as church families need to get to know one another, so that we can more fully love each other. Together at church we have the opportunity to live out our brother and sisterhoods. Of course, we should also do that outside of that formal Sunday setting. But Sunday service is a good place to start.
In short, if we want to be useful for Christ, we need to gather where we meet him and his people. It is therefore both a duty and a joy.
So tomorrow, and next Sunday, and the Sunday for the rest of your days... Don’t be lazy. Forget your excuses. If you’re able to go to church, get thee there.
