Why Should People Go To Church?

From the Beginning

The idea of the church goes all the way back to the book of Acts when the disciples acted on Christ’s commandment to wait for the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, right at the beginning of chapter 1. A vast variety of the books written thereafter in the New Testament have been Paul and a few other authors instructing and leading the disciples of Christ on how to use the gifts given to them by the Holy Spirit that came to them at Pentecost. These gifts as we can see throughout the rest of the book of Acts were to build up the Church.Therefore, we can see that in the post-gospel books of the New Testament, we have an amazing guide from the apostles themselves on just about every question we could ever ask about the Church. This is why it is so astonishing that one of the biggest questions still requested to this day is ‘Why should people go to church?’. As a matter of fact, the only thing that may be more disappointing than this question is the plethora of incorrect answers given by believers of Christ and even churchgoers themselves. The honest answer to why people should go to church is found right in God’s Word itself and would honestly shock church attendees who have been taught differently their whole lives and haven’t cared to look for themselves. So what is it? What is the honest answer to this seemingly ongoing question? The biblical answer to why people should go to church is quite simple; they shouldn’t……Christians should.

What does the Bible have to say?

Now I quickly want to state that by no means do I think that a church should not allow unbelievers to enter their doors or should set a certain set of standards or rules to come in on a Sunday. I believe that it is the church’s job to evangelize and reach the lost just as Christ commanded in the Great Commission in Matthew 28. However, when we look at these commands, we can see that these orders were given to show believers how they should act on a day in day out basis, not instructions on how the gathering of the church should look every week. We know this because we see what the outcome was of the disciples who were saved and filled with the Spirit in Acts 2:42. We are told, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” This in essence, is what the church should be, a place where we can gain knowledge about the Word of God, have fellowship with other believers, take communion with our brothers and sisters, and come before the Lord in prayer. Now ask yourselves this question, who but believers can partake in these actions? No one! In fact, we can see in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that,“18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Furthermore, we can see that on the topic of communion, 1 Corinthians 11: 27-29 tells us, “27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body.” Right away we see that the Word of God is foolishness to the unbeliever and that when communion is taken in an unworthy manner, such as a lost person living in sin, this person is now placing judgment on himself. How then can the church gathering be made for unbelievers? It shouldn’t and it can’t. John MacArthur, one of the most outspoken pastors on this issue, has this to say when it comes to the definition of the church, “When an individual is saved, he becomes a member of the body of Christ. Because he is united to Christ and the other members of the body in this way, he is, therefore, qualified to become a member of a local expression of that body.” It is indisputable that from a biblical perspective, the church gathering is made for believers.

When the Bible Isn’t Enough

Now on the contrary, many churches have shown that they don’t like this practice in our current day and culture, and have therefore changed church from edifying believers to getting as big of an audience as you possibly can. This is where the seeker-sensitive ideology has really taken off and harmed the Church in numerous ways. The seeker-sensitive, prosperity gospel-driven movement has swept over the nation and sadly more often than not, has taken over the function of multiple charismatic churches. This movement is defended by many supporters of these churches who claim that they are reaching more people for Christ than the modern-day, biblical standard church ever could. While I personally don’t believe that these ‘churches’ are reaching people for the gospel due to the lack of biblical teaching and a low view of theology, let’s give these movements the benefit of the doubt here and say for a second that they really are leading people to Christ in their church services. 

Even if this was the case, how is this method more sustainable and effective than the method we find in scripture? Who can honestly reach more lost people? One pastor speaking to thousands of people for just one hour, out of one day of the week? Or hundreds of people who have been taught the truth of God’s Word, going into the world, ready to share the gospel with anyone they meet, on any day out of the week. I think I’ve made my point. No matter how many people you can fit in the biggest church building on a Sunday morning, you can not outproduce the outcomes that can take place when a body of believers are reaching the lost and not just one man for one hour out of the week. Yes, it is pleasing to the human eye to see such a great crowd attending your church, but when we take a step back and look at God’s method according to scripture, it should be even more pleasing when we see the same crowd we teach on a Sunday morning, go into the world and make followers of Christ on their own, without the need of a big name pastor who has a cool way with words. It’s almost as if God actually knew what He was doing when He orchestrated the Church back in the New Testament.

The Solution

When all is said and done, I believe it is unmistakably clear that the true church that God designed, must be built for the edification of believers as stated in Ephesians 4:11-12 “11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” It’s time we start becoming the church that God designed us to be and stop being the church that the world wants us to be. We must gather as believers who dedicate themselves to the teaching of the Word of God, to fellowship with other Christ followers, to the breaking of bread together, and are one body devoted to prayer. When we do this, we can truly start to reach people with the power of the gospel and stop reaching people solely for the sake of attention. 

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Sources

[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023. 

[2] MacArthur, John & Mayhue, Richard. A Systemic Summary of Bible Truth:Biblical Doctrine. Wheaton, Crossway, 2017