“I Don't Have to Go to Church to Be a Christian, Do I?”

“I Don't Have to Go to Church to Be a Christian, Do I?”

    

Maybe you’ve heard some people say, “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”  This is a wrongheaded statement.  If a Christian is someone who believes in Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior from sin, death and the power of the devil, and makes a public confession of faith in Him, then that person will show the seriousness of his faith and carry it out in his everyday life—this would include active Church attendance in practicing your Christian faith.

Attending church and paying attention to the Word of God that’s preached is essential to the Christian’s life.  Jesus Himself said that the believers are sanctified by God’s Word of Truth (John 17:17).  When a person says that she don’t have to go to church to be a Christian, she’s saying in effect that the Word of God taught in God’s house doesn’t make the Christian grow in her faith and Christian life or preserve her as a believer.  That person is saying that a Christian can get along without the Word of God.  But, the very opposite is true.  St. Paul wrote, “The Word of God is at work in you who believe.” (1 Thess. 2:13).  St. Peter said, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2).  St. Paul said, “I commit you to God and to the Word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

Finally, why do we Christians go to church?  Is it merely to “perform a good work” or to “pay our dues” that would make us “good” Christians?  Don’t we go to God’s house because we have sins to confess before God and to hear that they’ve been forgiven?  Don’t we go to church to be strengthened and guided in our Christian faith, to be comforted, and to offer to our Savior Jesus Christ our worship and praise for laying down His life for the forgiveness of our sins?  And isn’t the preaching and teaching of God’s Word at the center of it all?  If you count yourself as a sinner who needs Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you love the Word of God preached and taught, then you should be in Church.