Why Church ?

How is the church perceived? Why do people go? What is the church exactly? What is the purpose of the church? Is church attendance really a big deal? What should the church look like according to God’s Word? Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? If so, then you are not alone. Some of these questions, perhaps, even trouble the minds of some who go to church. For some time now, it has been on my heart to share with whoever may read this what God has pressed upon my heart about church as I have studied His Word.

If you ask ten people how they perceive church, then you would likely get ten different answers. I will not claim to be any kind of expert on the matter, but I am out in public a great deal, and I have had the opportunity to be in conversation with many different people. During some of these conversations I have heard people say things about church like: “Church is just a place to rid you of your money,” or “I don’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites.” On a bit more of a positive note I have heard: “I just go for the great music,” or “Maybe if I get my church on now and then, I won’t go to hell.” Therefore, I ask myself this question: is this how people really see the church? If so, then why do people go to church at all? I have asked this question to people and these are some of the answers I’ve received:

• To get closer to God.
• So my children will have a moral foundation.
• To be a better person.
• For comfort in sorrow.
• To continue family tradition.
• Out of obligation (to a spouse, parent, etc.).
• To meet people or to network for my business.

No matter the reasons for going to church, the number of those attending regularly has dramatically declined in recent years. I live in a small town. I’ve lived here for most of 55 years. In that time, I have witnessed the closing of at least six churches due to lack of attendance in the small rural area around this town. Many whom I went to church with growing up no longer go to church at all. This is happening all across the nation!  Why do you think this is? Has the church failed?

The best way to find out why something isn’t working, in my opinion, is to go back to when it was working and compare what was happening then to what is happening now. If we are to do that with the church, then a great place to start is in God’s Word.In Acts 2:42-47, the church is described as follows:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Sounds pretty good, but that’s not what the church looks like today.

Let’s take a bit of time to have a closer look at how the first believers “did church.” The first thing we see is their devotion. When I think of devotion, the best way for me to describe it is being all in putting everything you have into it. It says that they were devoted to the apostles’ teaching. In those days, the Bible, in its entirety, had not yet been written and also, many people couldn’t read so they relied on the apostles to teach them. We are fortunate to have the Bible in many ways here in America, from printed form to Bible apps. We have no excuse to not have God’s Word at our fingertips. If we wanted to, we could be reading the Bible at any pause we have all throughout the day. In those days, they would have to memorize it! That is still recommended today. They also met together to study together. Every day! Does that sound like devotion to you? How would being that devoted to studying God’s Word with others from church change your life and those whom you are around every day?

We also see that they were devoted to fellowship with one another. I truly believe that one of the most efficient tricks that the old serpent Satan has used against the church is leading us to believe that we are too busy to get together or that it’s simply not necessary. I hear it all the time and have even said it myself, “I barely have time for church once a week let alone more than that.” Does God expect us to meet every day? I can’t answer that, but I know that’s what they did in the early church and it worked! Acts 2:46 States: Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. If we are only together once a week, if that, then how can we build relationships with each other? How will we know each others’ needs? How will we know what to pray for?

We all have needs, whether it be a physical need, financial need, or even more important a spiritual need. We all have sin in our lives and in order to best be equipped to fight it we need each other. We need each other for prayer and accountability in order to grow in our lives with Christ.Hebrews 10:24-25 Says: And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another- all the more as we see the Day approaching. Listen, I know we are all busy. I do. I also know that in those days they also had jobs and children and when they had to go somewhere they had to walk or ride animals and in the extreme cold or heat. We have all kinds of comfortable ways to travel and we can be most anywhere nearby in minutes. They chose to make each other a priority. We can too.

We also have something else they didn’t have, instant communication. At any given moment, we can email, text, Snapchat, instant message or even call our brothers and sisters in Christ with prayer requests, good news, praises, or asking for help! Can you name a single sin in any one person’s life that you know who has told you about it and asked you to pray about it? Have you shared yours with anyone? How can we grow as believers if we don’t make these connections, and where better than church to build these relationships? We are trying to live for Christ alone! That is not what God wants for us! Paul said in his letter to theThessalonians in 5:11: Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Are we doing that? Jesus Himself said inMatthew 18:20:  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. If we are together then Jesus is with us! And in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10,Solomon shared: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up! The truth is, we were created by God to have fellowship with both each other and Him!

This brings us to another important part of church: the breaking of bread. This term is used to refer to a command that Jesus gave to all of us. It was to remember Him, and not just Him but also what He has done for us. He gave His body to be tortured and abused and he gave His blood to atone for our sin. Our sin, not His. He didn’t have sin! Therefore, as a reminder of His broken body He gave us bread to eat together. Likewise, He also gave us wine to drink as a reminder of the blood He shed. He first gave this command to His disciples just before He went to the cross, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that it was only for them to do.First Corinthians 11:23-26 states:

For I received from the Lord what I also pass on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Just as Jesus took this bread and cup in fellowship with His followers that night, so we are to take it together today and until He comes! For me, personally, this is something I need to do often. I need to be reminded of all that I’ve been forgiven, and who made it possible and how! I think we can all use the reminder and besides, it’s another way to draw us closer together; that’s just what Jesus had in mind! The whole purpose for us being created in the first place was to bring God glory and for Him to have a people to Himself with whom He can have fellowship. What better way is there to give God glory amongst mankind than to love each other and remind each other of our Father’s love through His Son? Hence, church is also a place to remember.

This leads me to the final thought I have on the importance of meeting together with God’s people: the results. Have you ever wondered why, after you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, He doesn’t just take you right to heaven then? If He died and rose again so that we can be forgiven and be with Him for all eternity, then why leave us here after we are saved? Why do we need to stay here with all of life’s troubles and sorrows and pain? The short answer: we are His ambassadors. We are a body of people who belong to God, the church, and it is through us that He reveals Himself to the world. We are to be an image of the love of God to all whom we meet in our lives. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:10 : His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.  It’s because we have work to do that he leaves us here for a time. If we, meaning the church, were to live our lives like they did in the early church, how would our world look today? If they could see God’s people living in community with one another, how would the perception of the church change?Acts 4:32-35states:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

If we were fully dedicated to each other like what Luke described here, don’t you think that those who are out there who are lost and hurting, alone and forgotten, would come running to see what it was all about? The Lord would be so present in our lives that the power of His love in us would bring people to Him! Don’t believe me? Look at the last sentence of Acts 2: And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of one single thing going on in my life that’s more important than this! Can you imagine your own life if you were a part of a family like this? How might your town change? How might the world change? It all starts with us! We can either buy the lie of the old serpent, or we can trust what we see in God’s Word and start getting together. Let’s start being the church Jesus wants us to be!