Dear Christian, Start Going to Church Again
Happy new week everyone! I hope you had a great weekend. I spent my weekend with family. On Sunday, I went to church, and was caught up in traffic on my way home. I have chosen to stop complaining about the state of the roads where I live, but to pray about them instead. In church, we just concluded our series out of the book of Ezra, and if there is one thing I learned, it is that God can also work by influencing policies. So, Governor Babajide, our good Lord will touch your heart soon. Anyway, let’s get right into today’s topic.
As I began writing this, I had no idea what it was going to be titled. What I knew was that it is a subject I have been pondering for a while. Why some Christians don’t think it to be that important to show up to church on Sundays. Yes, I have come again (haha). If you live in majority of the cities in Nigeria, and even in places like the US and most parts of Europe, as a Christian, you have no disturbance in attending church or committing yourself to becoming a part of a church community.
Now, people come up with all sorts of excuses these days – I can stream service online, Jesus is everywhere, Christianity is not about going to church, and the excuses are endless. Perhaps some have even been hurt by a church they once used to be a part of, and as such, have decided that church altogether is a no-go area for them. Their pain validates their feelings about the body of Christ.
The enemy will happily work through whatever circumstance to keep you away from church. Whether it is your own laziness or personal biases, or even something real that happened. As long as you stay away, his mission to isolate you from other Christians have been accomplished. In these times, we cannot afford to be ignorant about the enemy’s schemes, or be ignorant about what scripture says when it comes to this topic.
Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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.”
Being a part of a healthy church community provides a lot of benefits than it does wahala. Even the wahala, most times works together for your good. The Christians in the early church understood this concept as they were quick to sell of their properties, so no one among them will be in need (Acts 2:45). They gathered in someone’s home to pray for Peter when he was in prison. Acts 12:5 says, “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”
Whenever Paul (or the other apostles) came back from one of their many escapades, they were always quick to inform their Christian brothers and sisters about the things they endured and accomplished. Most times, they brought encouragement to the body of Christ, other times they brought rebuke.
They also did not hesitate to ask for help when they were in need. Other Christians were quick to open up their homes to people, as long as they knew they were part of the body of Christ. You cannot have access to all these blessings that God has kept within the body of Christ, if you sit at home by yourself each week.
When you are despairing, who will come to your aid? When you are being overcome by your sin, who will be there to say – “I see this thing is going to be the end of you, if you don’t quit it!” Who will be there to lift you up in prayer, bring encouragement, or answer your questions when you lack understanding? Who will remind you that you have to live your life for Christ, no matter what?
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
This is not to discount the place for personal time with God, by studying the word, praying, and fasting, these are equally as important. In the bible, we see instances where Jesus withdrew from his group of people to be by himself, but by the next day (or even hours later), he was back with them. In isolation, you become an easy target – we even see this with prey and predators amongst animals. But within a family of believers, you are protected, loved, cared for, and nurtured.
I remember going down a rabbit hole on YouTube, about an organization many were saying have evil intentions for the world. And you know once you watch one video, YouTube will keep suggesting similar videos, until the fear in you becomes optimal. What I discovered was very disturbing. When I went to church the following week, during the Q&A session, I asked a question about this organization and how Christians should respond. The answer brought about relief for me.
The world is going to come at you with a lot of things, that should be concerning. Those things are designed to incite fear and make you paranoid. However, when you are doing life with other followers of Christ, you can voice your concerns, and they will be quick to remind you about what the word of God says.
We Should Not Take God’s Grace for Granted
Similar excuses, such Christians (who fail to attend church) hold when it comes to reading the bible. Some people who identify as Christians seldom open the scriptures. Matthew 4:4 says about Jesus: But he answered, “It is written,” ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” As such, this conclusion wouldn’t be far-fetched - that there are many believers today, walking around on life support.
Many of us have little understanding of how privileged we are, living in societies where we can freely practice our Christian faith. God in His infinite wisdom, when he was creating you, thought to place you where you can openly head to church, and publicly profess the name of Christ, yet we choose to spit on that grace, and allow our distractions (or laziness) dictate to us when and how we should worship God. It shouldn’t be so.
We have many Christian brothers and sisters who are stuck in places where they have no access to a church. They have to meet secretly, if not it will be “off with their heads.” Others have to smuggle bibles for them, just so they could have the word of God in their hands. Some, when they have the privilege of laying their hands on a bible, they spend time memorizing it, because they do not know how long they will have it in their possession, while others when they see the bible, each of them take pages out of it, just so everyone can have something to hold on to. This is mind-blowing!
So, what excuse do we have really? If the Christians in such places hear about how we misuse the privilege God has blessed us with, they may perhaps think that we don’t know the value of what God has freely given us. If you are a Christian, who has been operating in this type of mindset, of - anything goes; that is, when Sunday comes around, going to church is dependent on your mood, if you spent the previous night partying, or the weather, you should know that the way things are now, isn’t how it is always going to be.
The latter part of Hebrews 10:25 says – “and all the more as you see the Day drawing near…” Because of this, we cannot afford to minimize the importance of assembling together. Perhaps if no disruption takes place in your lifetime, also remember that you will one day give an account to God, on how you spent the time he gave to you.
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Why Belonging to a Church Community Holds Significant Importance
Well said Ma
It is amazing how over the years, behaviours and tendencies remain the same, even in the days the bible was being written, people were deciding not to go to church .
As you have said, we need to encourage and spur each other on as we go on in the Christian journey, if not one can get blindsided ...
Also, there are some things you might not be able to achieve on your own, an example is the day of Pentecost