Today is the last post on this subject. I could actually write more on the excuses I’ve heard though out my years of ministry; however, I’ll conclude with this one:
“I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian”
If you’ve been around Church or Christians for any time, you might have heard this statement a time or two. I have a couple of questions and statements for people who say this.
First, what’s with the “have to” phrase? We don’t “have to” go to church -we get to go to church. It is a privilege that many people in our culture take for granted. Visiting other countries on mission trips often makes apparent our apathetic attitudes for attending church. It’s sometimes easy to take our gift of weekend worship for granted when there are so many churches in our communities; still we must not look at our gift of worship as a “have to” duty.
Second, while it may be true that we don’t “have to” go to church to be a Christian, shouldn’t we want to? Shouldn’t we want to show up and worship with other believers? Although it has evolved over the centuries, the church was Christ’s original idea. Even though the church is far from perfect, I think He would want us to be a part of it.
Third, I’ve heard people say that the church is not the four walls, its the people. While this statement is true, we must realize that worshiping together is a part of what His church is created to do. Even Jesus, when He was on this earth would often go to the temple to listen, to pray, and to teach. When he saw the temple being abused, He ran people out. He not only cared about the people who worshiped, he also cared about the place where people worshiped.
Maybe you’ve had a bad experience with church. Maybe you are unsatisfied with the place you currently attend. Maybe you have another reason for why you are considering giving up or quitting. Whatever the reason, quitting is not the answer. When we quit, we lose. We have been given this incredible mission to fulfill and we need each other to fulfill it.
Never give up. Never quit.
Travis Hurst
4 responses so far ↓
flash // July 6, 2009 at 1:03 pm |
Great post!
Kelly Hassen // July 7, 2009 at 8:34 am |
Gosh, I was once one of those ppls…what a life changing experience FCO has been for me and my family….you are a blessing to many and teach us so much…keep us the good work!
caroline // July 9, 2009 at 10:24 am |
Enjoyed the post. “I don’t have to go to church”, tell that to the POW’s who struggled to tap in moris code, a small scripture. Or to the christians in other countrys who have to hide out to assemble because of their fear of being caught, but risk it anyway. How we take our freedom for granant. We have read of others hardship and yet we still don’t appreciate the freedom we have. We live in a country blessed by God, and still some lazy folks don’t want to get up and go to Church for 1 hour. Maybe go on Saturday night, “oh, that right, I have to watch a movie. For their sakes, I hope they don’t miss the rapture because of EXCUSES!
Denise Kulow // July 16, 2009 at 2:49 pm |
Thanks Pastor T ~ You’re awesome and I have so enjoyed the blog over the past few months!