6 Reasons Not To Go To Church
Most Christians will agree that
church is a very important aspect of a Christian’s life. But do you think beyond
the brick and mortar or the people and things that make up the local church
that you go to? Do you truly look into the reason you go to the church that you
attend and ask if it is the right place for you to be?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not
bashing churches or saying most if any of the ones around you are bad. I am not
even in this article promoting any one certain type, denomination or creed of
Christian church. This article is to simply help you analyze the church you
attend to decide if it is indeed the best place for you to be. What if you are
attending the church you are going to with the wrong intentions? Or perhaps the
church functions in ways that are truly not Biblical and would not be the best place
for you as an individual to grow closer to Christ. Let’s explore the subject
and in this article I will show you 6 reasons why you should not be attending
church.
First off, what are some purposes
and reasons for a church and why we should be attending a church?
Matthew 28:16-20 Then the eleven disciples went away into
Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. (17)
And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted. (18)
And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth. (19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.
Here
in Matthew we find the Great Commission. Christ, before His ascension is giving
His last command to the Disciples. This command or “Commission” is His
instructions for what will now become the Christian Church. Plain and simple we
see 3 commands: 1: To go into all the nations and teach the Gospel of Christ.
2: To baptize new believers in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and
3: To teach them to observe what Christ has taught them making them as well
Disciples of Christ.
From
this short commission we can see the purpose of the church is to preach the
Gospel, The Word of God, the Bible, to convert and baptize new believers and to
mentor, disciple and teach new believers and fellow Christians how to live as
Christ taught. This shows the main function of the church.
Other
functions of the church are to be a safe haven, a fellowship or a congregation
of like minded people of faith to gather and help keep each other strong, edify
each other in the Word of God and help protect each other by abiding in
Christ’s word and in Him as the vine. As Christians we are the body of Christ,
we are the branches in the vine and He is the Vine. We need to fellowship and
be close to others who are rooted in the Word, rooted in Christ to gain help in
matters of life, decisions, growth and advice. Psalms 1:1-6 gives a good
example as who we should be in fellowship with as Christians and who we should be
turning to for advice as well as gives us good examples as to how a rooted life
in the body of Christ can benefit us;
Psalms 1:1-6 Blessed is the man
that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
(2) But his delight is in
the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (3)
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. (4) The ungodly are not so: but are
like the chaff which the wind drives away.
(5) Therefore the ungodly shall
not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the
righteous. (6) For the LORD knows the way of the righteous:
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Abiding
in Christ and fellowship and mentorship of other Christians is vital to our
growth and fruitfulness in life and in growing closer to Christ. Are you
getting this fruitfulness from your church? Is your church at the minimum
holding up to the Great Commission? Is your pastor or church leader living
lives where they are leading by example and promoting the attributes and living
of Christ? Are they taking an active part in mentoring and building its members
up to be stronger Christians? These are all important things to ask about your
church.
We,
however, may choose some wrong motives unknowingly when we choose a church or
find ourselves drawn to another congregation. Here now are 6 reasons that you
should not be going to the church you’re going to or reasons that should not be
your motivation to choose any particular church if you are searching for one.
1. You really like
the preacher: Smart/Personality/Attractive:
Are you
basing your church on the premises of a popularity contest? There are many
different styles of preachers in the world and all with different
personalities, energy, methods of preaching and overall likeability. How are we
supposed to pick which preacher to plant in front of and let teach us from the
Word of God?
You
need to ask yourself; Does Pastor X truthfully teach the Gospel of Christ? Does
Pastor X teach from the word of God and not just from his suggestions, opinions
and personal ideals? Does Pastor X back everything up with Scripture to weight
before you what he teaches? Is Pastor X approachable if you are in need and
finally is Pastor X serving to honor God or serving to just please his
congregation and is he an example of this, not just at the pulpit but in life?
These
are some of the many things to consider when choosing which pastor to be
shepherded by. It is his job to nurture and protect the flock of Christ and
that should be evident in his performance. Basing your choice because he is
energetic, funny, attractive, easy to please, easy to get along with or he
supports everything you decide are not strong foundations to build your choice
on. His job is to provide you the Word of God through Scripture and to disciple
you to live a Christ like life. Would it be more spiritually fulfilling for you
to sit in front of a not so popular or energetic personality and be fed the
true Word of God and bread of life or sit in front of an energetic, young
attractive pastor and get fed nothing?
2. The Church is
geographically convenient:
I think
anybody would agree a church in their back yard or across the street would
indeed be a total blessing from the Lord. Being late would not be an issue. You
wouldn’t have to get up extra early to get ready then leave and arrive on time,
gas expenses would be less, getting kids and family there would be less hectic
and you could be there at a moment’s need or notice. Is that church across the
street right for you though?
A
church is a church. What is inside the church is what counts. Is that church
preaching truth? Too many churches these days are becoming extremely liberal
and falling away from the Scripture. Churches in an attempt to keep their
congregation numbers up are bending their ideals and the way they teach the
Word of God. There is only one way to teach the lessons of the Bible and that
is as taught by Christ for what they are, the Word of God. God is never
changing so our interpretation and allowance of certain things should not be
either.
How
does the church across the street teach salvation? How do they view Jesus, the
Bible, marriage and the family? How do they approach the standards of Christian
living as taught by Christ and the apostles? Are they bending the Word of God
to fit their needs or desires or upholding the Word? The church is meant to be
the body of Christ, and we, in the body, are meant to be edifying each other
and lifting each other up giving each other strength to abide in the Word and
live Christ centered lives turning from the world of fleshly lusts and focusing
on our spiritual growth.
Just
because that church is convenient to get to does not mean it is convenient or
helpful to your spiritual wellbeing. Say for instance you are a new believer
and have certain struggles in your life you need to get away from and break
free from. By the power of Christ and salvation you broke those chains and
decided to find yourself a church to continue to grow in. You find one nearby
but after a few weeks attending you realize the church does not frown upon or
teach against those very behaviors you fought so hard to break free from. Would
that church be the best place for you? Indeed not! Go a little further, seek
out a true Bible believing and Bible teaching church, even if you have to wake
up a few minutes early and drive a few miles further. Your spiritual life will
benefit from the sacrifice.
3. Your dating one
of their members:
This can
be a touchy subject for many. It is a true situation none the less though.
Perhaps you are in a relationship with somebody from a different church. You
attend the church but discover factors similar to the ones we already discussed
and will discuss in the next 3 cases. Is that church someplace you should stay
simply because of your significant other? I think the best way to answer this
dilemma is to ask yourself: How important is your spiritual life and walk with
the Lord? Much prayer needs to be placed on this situation, however, if you are
obeying the first commandment Christ gave us; “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, mind and soul” I think you will find your answer.
If
you discover the church is wrong because of a scriptural or Biblical fault,
then lovingly approach your significant other and explain it to him/her. Show him/her
in scripture what you are explaining so she/he can see from the Word of God and
explain to him/her why you feel that church is bad for your spiritual growth.
Ask him/her to consider looking for a new church where you both can grow closer
to God as you grow closer together and that you want to find a church that will
benefit you as a couple as well. Your significant other may have just been
brought up in that church and may not have an understanding of the negative
issues or perhaps he/she settled for the first church he/she found or chose
that church on the basis of the points we are discussing in this article.
One
of the biggest tools to overcoming this situation would be keeping an open
loving heart to your significant other and handle it together with prayer, seek
out or visit other churches together, and read the Bible together and discuss
your feelings about what you find. The important thing is to not be one sided
or opinionated. Agree to let the Truth, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit
through prayer to guide you to the right place of worship.
4. Pre-marital sex
or homosexuality is ok:
I am
completely certain that this will step on the toes of a few readers of this
article. Unfortunately it has to be so. As a Bible believing Christian I
believe completely in the never changing God that we have and His inspired Word
given to us in the Bible. The Bible, in numerous passages teaches that both
pre-marital sex and homosexuality is wrong. Sex is confined to the union of
marriage as God had designed it and homosexuality is a sexually immoral sin.
Any church that removes from the Word of God, Christ’s teachings and what He
has commanded is doing a horrible injustice to the Christian church and the
truthful word of God. To dismiss one sin or abomination to God just invites you
to dismiss them all, then why even bother believing in God at all?
Many
churches these days, once again to maintain congregation strength, as well as
to bolster its appearance to the world are changing the Word of God to fit in
with society. Christ taught us to be a light in the dark world, not to become
dark like the world. The church is not to bend to cater to society or the
world, we are to stand out and show the world the truth and that there is life
that offers salvation and spiritual fulfillment and freedom from all the lusts
of the flesh.
Any
church that bends the Word of God to fit the world is defaming the Word of God.
There are many examples of these churches that the apostles rebuked in the New
Testament. Christian, how can you be nurtured, cultivated and guided into a
strong Christian life if you are being nurtured by a pastor, teacher, elder or
church that is blatantly defying and disobeying the very Word of God that it is
teaching? For us to accept that in a church that we attend is to ourselves say
we stand for the disobedience of God and that not abiding in Christ is ok so
long as we make the sinful world happy.
If
you believe in truth, then chose truth when you chose a church.
5. The services are
exciting:
I have
visited a few churches that have some very exciting services. They had either loud
fast energetic music, group involvement, activities, skits and many other such
modes of entertainment. I am in no way at all saying these things are bad. It
is always great to see churches develop new things or find other ways to honor
and glorify God and teach the true Word of God and the Gospel of Christ. But
that is the point however. Are they honoring God or just putting on a good
show? Are they teaching the truth from the Bible or just packing in the seats
and collecting a large tithe? Are they truly teaching salvation and promoting
Christ like spiritual growth or just doing everything they can to make sure you
come back next Sunday?
Christ
is losing ground in this largely atheistic and worldly earth we live in today.
Churches are indeed drying up and many are doing all they can to keep people in
their seats and attract new people. A lot of these churches are forgetting what
they are here to do. Refer back to Matthew 28 and the Great Commission we
talked about at the beginning of this article. Are these churches doing it? Are
they developing spiritual walks and Christ like living in the lives of those
who attend? So many churches these days don’t even open a Bible in their
services. Preachers preach from PowerPoint and with musical interludes while
observers sip coffee from the in house barista and not once is the Bible opened
and talked about, read or explained. The church will be packed to capacity but
no spiritual development, no assurance of salvation and no discipleship is
being conducted. What are they teaching? Vanity is all. They are teaching you to
feel good about yourself and not worry about a thing, not trust and abide in
Christ because without Christ we are nothing.
Id
rather sit in a quiet mellow service and be fed tons of spiritually nourishing
preaching and fellowship then go to a loud energetic weekly event where I walk
out no less challenged, spiritually strong or encouraged afterward.
6. Family social
evenings and youth groups:
Churches
with many events and opportunities are great! What better way to help mentor
and encourage Christian life then offering many different opportunities to
fellowship with others of the same faith. I currently am at my church 3 to 4
times a week for different events each time and I enjoy it without a doubt. We
must, however, apply the same mentality as in the last point to this as well.
A
church can offer 2 events every day of the week but if it is not honoring the
Lord, promoting Christ like living and centered on the truth it is all for
nothing. Most churches have web pages with their schedules up and it’s almost
as if it’s an advertisement to outsiders to lure you in. They offer a little
glam and glitter to attract new customers. Base the church on the Word of God
and what it teaches and promotes, not on what events they have throughout the
week.
I have to
add extra emphasis on the youth and child programs. This is vitally important.
Christian, you as a parent have your child’s well being in your hands. Your
child is going to grow, learn and take from what you offer and teach them. It
is important for you to apply these principles above to find a church where you
can be sure your children’s spiritual well being will be looked after. How do
you want them to be brought up and mentored?
I
visited a church once where the youth group was nothing more than a rowdy get
together of teens playing games, sports and eating with supervision of youths
not much older than they themselves. Not mentoring, no discipleship, no Word of
God. Are youth are at a very impressionable age and in the world we live in
today where one can so quickly be taken away from the beliefs we have as
Christians this is a vital decision for any parent looking for a new church. If
you live by always teaching your children the truth then please, make it a
point to find a church that will also teach your children the truth.
In
conclusion I offer you two last bits of advice. Some readers of this article may
highly disagree and some may not agree with just a few points. Whether you
disagree with 1 or all 6 at least do these 2 things when examining the church
you are in or if you are looking for a new or first church.
1.
Pray. Pray to the Lord and ask for His ultimate guidance and for the Holy
Spirit to help guide you to a place that is going to help you and your family
grow closer to Christ.
2.
Open the Bible. In it you will find many examples as what Christ like living is
and what the body “Church” of Christ is meant to be.
Even
if you regard this article as simply my opinion, when we pray sincerely for
guidance and use the Word of God as our guide we can find many answers for
ourselves that we are guided to by the Holy Spirit. May you find a home in
Christ where you can grow closer to Him each and every time you walk through
its doors.
Thanks for reading.
In Christ,
C. Speakman of WH
