I’m A Christian, So I:  Go To Church 

For much of the 20^th century, American have been told that they far more religious than any country on earth.  Since the late 1930s, the Gallup Organization has been asking pollees if they “happened to attend” church or synagogue in the past seven days. Invariably, about 40 percent respond that they have done so. Long running surveys like the General Social Survey of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, the Harris polls, and the polling of the Barna Research Group in California have tended to support the 40 percent figure.

However, there is a problem with that 40 percent figure:  it isn’t true.  In fact, it isn’t even close to being an accurate assessment of American church-going habits.  For much of the 1990s, contending groups of sociologists have competed, usually outside the view of journalists, to revise and improve their measurements. And many of them have concluded that the “fact” of high church attendance is built on a foundation of lies–or, perhaps, “overrepresentations.”

The underlying issue is that for the past half-century Gallup and other polling enterprises have relied on self-reporting to determine attendance at worship. Unfortunately, “there’s a well-known tendency for individuals in self-report surveys to exaggerate what they perceive to be socially desirable behavior,” Mark Chaves, now at the University of Arizona, told Richard Chapman of the Chicago Sun-Times in December of 1994. No behavior is more “socially desirable” than church attendance, but pollsters have rarely addressed this shortcoming in their press releases.

In 1993, Chaves, Kirk Hadaway of the United Church of Christ, and Penny Marler of Sanford University ignited the debate about “overrepresentation” by reporting the results of a study of church attendance by Protestants in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and in 18 Roman Catholic dioceses around the country. Instead of using telephone polling, the researchers counted heads at services and in parking lots, and checked with pastors. They then estimated that 20 percent rather than 40 percent of Protestants, and 28 percent rather than 50 percent of Catholics, attend church weekly. The study, “What the Polls Don’t Show: A Closer Look at U.S. Church Attendance,” appeared in the American Sociological Review.

So, what does all this mean?  It means that the Church, as an institution in America is in trouble.  Americans are not going to church anymore.  Sunday mornings are no longer seen as “sacred time.”  In the 21^st century, regular church attendance is increasingly difficult, even for those committed to it.  Job responsibilities, sports leagues, family outings, housework, and many other things get in the way of traveling to a church building for worship at a scheduled time.

What do we do about this?  Is the Church in America passé?  Has our culture outgrown the need for regular church attendance?  Let’s go back to the Bible and see what it says about the issue.  Our faith is rooted, not in the polls, but in God’s unchanging and unalterable Word.   Christians need to go to church because-

1.  Jesus did.

Jesus was a rabbi and He regularly attended the synagogue, which we could consider the “church services” of His day.  He is our perfect example, and as His followers we should desire to not only follow Him, but also follow His example.  John 14:15 says,

If you love me, you will obey what I command.

And one of His commands was:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

So right away there is a precedent for believers to follow:  Jesus was committed to His faith and fellowship and we need to take notice of that and follow His example.  If Jesus, the Son of God was faithful in church attendance, why shouldn’t we be?

2.  The Bible commands it.

The Bible is our “operations manual.”  Within its covers is God’s will for us.  Being obedient to God’s will means a believer will grow in his faith and become stronger and able to overcome great obstacles in his life.  This is seen in the incredible growth of the New Testament church, which grew in the face of persecution and tremendous obstacles.  They devoted themselves to meeting together often, but especially on the first day of the week.  Consider the words of warning in Hebrews 10:25-

Let 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.

That the writer to the Hebrews was referring to meeting together for the purpose of public worship is beyond question.  It, then, is a duty for Christians to meet together for the purpose of worshipping God.  Implicit in this is the idea that it was dangerous not to meet together.  Moffatt says this-

Any early Christian who attempted to live like a pious particle without the support of the community ran serious risks in an age when there was not public opinion to support them.

In other words, according to Moffatt, attending public worship services served a dual purpose; it was being obedient to Christ, but it also was a very public demonstration of your faith.  It appears that in the time the epistle was written there were some believers who had stopped attending services.  Just why they stopped is not known, but some commentators have advanced the following reasons as possibilities-

1.      Fear of persecution.  Some think these believers were afraid of being seen worshipping in a public fashion for fear that they would suffer some sort of persecution, perhaps being disowned by their families.

2.      Perhaps some had no interest in attending services or felt like they didn’t need to attend.

3.      Others may have felt it was not necessary.

4.      Still others may have stayed away for reasons that would seem common today:  dislike of fellow member, dislike of the preacher, etc.

When you think about it, with minor alterations, these four reasons are the same reasons many Christians use today for staying out of church!  However, without regard to the reasons, the writer to the Hebrews simply says it is the Christian’s duty to meet together.  Albert Barnes wrote this-

With all who bear the Christian name, with all who expect to make advances in piety and religious knowledge, it should be regarded as a sacred duty to assemble together for public worship.  Religion is social; and our graces are to be strengthened and invigorated by waiting together on the Lord.

The writer tells his readers the reason for gathering together:  to encourage one another.  What a wonderful reason to get together!  No gossiping, no backbiting, no contention; we meet together to worship the Lord and to encourage each other.  Where else can a believer receive such encouragement, if not from the Body of Christ?

3.  We worship God with others

Psalm 22:3 is a powerful verse that indicates, among other things, the Lord dwells in the praises of His people.  There is an amazing power in the presence of the Lord that you can experience only by being in Church.  Can you experience the presence of the Lord at home?  Of course you can!  We have the promise that the Lord is always with us, even when we ourselves.  However, when we worship as a group, we, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, become a powerful force in helping one another and, indeed, influencing the entire community.

4.  Your family needs the influence

It’s important for believers to fellowship with other believers, no matter how young they may be.  It’s vital for children and young people to see that other people believe what they believe.  This gives them courage to face an unbelieving world and to stand on the Word of Truth.  Proverbs 22:5-6 tell us:

In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

No matter our ages, we learn best when we learn together.  These two proverbs, while not promises, tell us something significant.  The word “train” is in the imperative, meaning it is a verb which carries with it the idea of dedication.  The training then must be done with purpose and skill.  The NEB translates this phrase:  Start a boy on the right road.  This “right road” is the “in the way he should go.”  The parallelism of this verse is quite formal; the second clause provides the consequence of the first.

This training, education, really, is to be done with great skill and care.  “The way he should go” has two meanings.  First, each child is different and must be taught according to his “bent,” or according to “his way.”  The wise parent, and indeed the wise Christian educator will discern the natural bent of the individual child and teach him accordingly.  But the main meaning of this phrase, “according to his way” means the way he ought to go.  McKane says this-

There is only one right way-the way of life-and the educational discipline which directs young men along this way is uniform.

You can teach your children at home, and you should, but the church is uniquely suited for the job because, according to Ephesians 4:11-

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

“The saints” includes your children!

5.  Church is exciting

It really is, you know.  Church is exciting; if you haven’t found it so, the problem is within you.  When we come to church, we rejoice in the goodness of the Lord together, we sing, praise, listen, share, love, and we go out of the services ready to share the good news that the Lord has been among us.  How can that not be exciting to every believer?

Remember the words of the psalmist:

I was glad when they said unto to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1)

I love the very subtle nuances of this verse.  The phrase I was glad (KJV) is translated I rejoiced in the NIV is in the perfect mood.  This means that each and every time the psalmist heard the call to go the house of the Lord, he was “glad,” he “rejoiced,” he was “thrilled.”

Does that describe your attitude about church?  Do you view it as a duty that you are pleased and excited to perform?  Or is going to church something have to do, like going to the dentist?  You don’t really want to, but you know it’s good for you.

If the thoughts of going to church drags you down, then let’s pray about that.  It’s important you look forward to Sundays and it’s important that you look forward to fellowshipping with the saints here.  After all, presumably, you  will be spending all of eternity with them in God’s presence.  If you can’t do it for an hour one day a week now, how will you stand it in heaven?