What’s the point of going to church?* **
*I recognize that we don’t go to church, but we are the church. But you know what I mean.
**I’m not asking this in a sarcastic or contentious way, despite the abruptness of the question. Nor do I think that there isn’t a point in going to church.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
For me, the point is the relationships. But, I go to a very small (25 people), very close church. I would imagine people who choose to go to larger churches might have a different reason.
1 Corinthians 12:25-27
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
Eph 5:29
29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31″For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. (NIV)
Hebrews 10:25
25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (NIV)
Here are some verses that I believe testify to the importance of the church.
I believe there is a lot of insight and wisdom to be gained from having relationships with other christians that we meet with on a regular basis.
Church is community. For most people, community requires face to face communication. After all, not everyone has blogs, is on Twitter or Facebook, and even if they were, a
and a <3 isn’t the same as a real smile, handshake, or hug.
I go to be a part of a larger family.
Sally,
I am having trouble finding an answer to Todd’s question in your response. I understand and agree with your assessment that relationships are integral to a person’s faith. The verses you chose are great inspirations for believers to encourage each other and be unified, but contextually they don’t convince me that attending a sunday morning or wednesday night congregational meeting is the only way or best way to do either of these things. I guess i am confused by your comment, “Here are some verses that I believe testify to the importance of the church”, because i dont understand why this testifies to the importance of the institution of church. I beleive that is what Todd was asking. If we are the church, why do we need an institution also called church?
I go as a discipline – it’s not always easy to go every week.
I go to be in fellowship with other believers on a regular basis.
I go to learn from someone who has the gift of teaching the Word of God.
I go to put myself in a place where I might be broken, humbled, and instructed.
I go to worship God outside of my regular everyday routine.
Charlie- I understand what you mean. I should have clarified that the verses I mentioned are talking about the church and things that go on within it. However, these “things that go on” are great! Examples from the verses: caring for one another, suffering together, honoring each other, being a part of a body, Christ caring for the church, encouraging one another (etc…). All of these things make me want to be apart of a church group. However, by no means do I want to convey that you cannot encourange, care, suffer with, (again, etc…) outside of a church. From these verses, and many others, church looks to be an good place to get these things. Thanks.
I’m not sure I can answer your question, Todd, about the *point* of going to church, because I feel like part of the answer should be why I think other people should go to church. And I don’t really like telling people that.
But I can say why I go to church: to see my friends (I have some friends from church I only see if I go to church on Sunday mornings), to worship God in communion and singing (things I wouldn’t normally do on my own), to hang out with families and old people and little kids, to be around people who talk about God and ask me questions about how my walk with God is going, to be in a sacred place. (I don’t go to church because I feel like I have to or because I think that God will be mad if I don’t go.)
I can sometimes experience these things in other situations, like dinner with friends or in a natural place, or if I’m singing to God at home. But I like the people at the church I go to, so I go to see them.
One reason is to remind myself that I am not crazy. There are other people on earth who believe in something and someone that we cannot see or touch. This is all quite miraculous when I think about it.
church, book club, theology pub, friends over, whatever – I go to get away and outside of myself. I grow in the community.