Five Reasons Christians Go To Church

I sat through a church service a few months back that I must admit, wasn’t the most enthusiastic service. No one was saved, there wasn’t any clapping much less shouting, attendance was down, music was mundane, and the message was ok. I know, you’ve never experienced a service like that at your church, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we all have. It was in that moment, I asked the question, “why do I go church?” Theme parks are open Sunday. The beach is open. Movie theaters, afternoon baseball, and if you’re on the west coast, football starts right around the time Sunday School begins. I even heard a lesson from a teacher one time who said, “there is a lot I could get done if I had one more day of the week.”

So why am I here? My answer has changed over the years. But as I formed my answer, I wondered what others would say. In the summer of 2018, I asked nearly a hundred Christians over a span of about eight months that weren’t currently attending church, in essence, why they quit going, in a blog titled 10 Reasons Christians Aren’t Going To Church. If you haven’t read it, give it a read. I felt for everyone I spoke with, the vast majority of which still aren’t currently serving in any church. It’s heartbreaking growing up in church, meeting and getting to know so many Christians and see so many not serving anymore and for many, shockingly, for good reason. I know, there isn’t a good reason to not serve God. But sometimes, it’s nearly impossible to serve because of certain people or twisted point of views. Now I pray my blog last year enlightened many of you. I pray today’s blog will offer you some encouragement, but also challenge you. After all, why do all these people go to church? According to a Pew Research poll conducted in 2014, 47% of Americans go to church. There’s got to be a reason, right? Back in October 2018, I began gathering information. After speaking to over a hundred people over the span of ten months, here now are the five most common reasons Christians go to church as told by them in italics.

5. “I go to discover who God is.”

I enjoy learning more about God… I am called to, “Church.” To learn His Word for my own life, and to become equipped to spread His Word when the opportunity presents itself.

There is a serious hunger, especially among new Christians, to learn all about this God that created them. A better knowledge of Him creates a closer relationship with Him. How can you say you know somebody and love somebody, but never spend any time or effort investing in them? You can’t say you know Christ because you admire what He did on the Cross. Admiration isn’t enough. If that were the case, I know Tom Hanks. I can tell you what movies he’s starred in, what awards he’s earned. I could even tell you where he was born (mostly because I was born in the same hospital and it’s my claim to fame). But is that really knowing Tom Hanks? Unfortunately, no. You can’t know God from a distance. He wants a close, intimate, relationship with you. Many Christians know that and use that as their motive when arriving for services on Sunday.

4. “I go to serve.”

Attending church is something that has been so ingrained in being a part of my life that it is almost like breathing… the least I can do on my end of this relationship is attend and serve in his church.

I go to church because I love the Lord… I don’t just go to the church service but I do many other things to serve the Lord and those make me very thankful to the Lord.

In a very me first society, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing much of anything for someone else for no benefit to themselves, especially for a god that some might argue you cannot physically see, touch or feel. Though the mentality of serving is a minority in church today, without those who do serve, the church would close her doors. Serving comes at so many levels. Smaller churches often have servitude misunderstood. To think the only way you can serve is teaching, preaching or singing. What if you’re shy? What if you hate being in front of people? Did God only choose extroverts for service? Serving as a parking lot greeter. Maybe your church has a welcome center. Perhaps you help in cleaning the church campus. Maybe you run the church’s social media accounts, put together weekly brochure or bulletins and/or outreach material. You can serve in a nursery/child care ministry or kid’s ministry. If we are the body of Christ, we can’t all be the right leg. The Body of Christ needs hands, legs, feet and so on. All of us a different role, a different calling listening to the same voice.

3. “I go to worship.”

I’ve seen what (life) looks like without church… I’m a witness to what God can do in a person’s life.

God has blessed me and deserves that praise, sure, but even in my worse week, He deserves my praise based simply on who He is, not just what He’s done.

Worship is such a misunderstood and highly underutilized purpose of the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ. No, it’s not just the music. It’s the prayer, it’s the response to the message, the opportunity to give in tithes and offerings, your presence and very attitude are forms of worship. Too many say the worship at their church falls flat based on what songs are sung or the style used.  Worship done as defined in scripture is when one lays prostrate. I don’t think that’s everyone’s average Sunday. He is most worthy of such honor and worthy to be praised. But why? Why is He worthy? We often answer this question with what God has done in our lives. He might have blessed us with a great family, loving spouse, good job, beautiful home, but is this why God is worthy of praise? Take the blessings away, is He still God? If Jesus had never performed a miracle, would He still be God? We can’t just celebrate our great God based on our circumstances. God deserves our worship for who He is! He is the same yesterday, today and forever therefore is forever worthy of our praise. Going to church service to worship Him isn’t just a noble concept, it’s what we were created for.

2. “I go out of habit.”

It has been more of a, “going through the motions,” thing… It can be easy to get so focused on attending church that we forget that church attendance is not the basis of our relationship with God, but a reflection of my relationship with Him.

I go out of habit, responsibility, and because I have kids and want them to be there.

I dont want people to ask me why I wasn’t there, because I am afraid I will say, “because I can’t stand the complacency any more.” It would open a can of worms and questions I just do not feel like answering.

A sobering reason, but one that was unfortunately one of the highest reasons I received when speaking with people as to why they went to church. I suppose there are much worse habits we could pick up than going to the house of God. Perhaps that’s why so many Christians pick up this habit. I hear all the time Christians proudly talking about their upbringing saying things like, “when I was growing up, we went to church. We didn’t have an option.” Sounds commendable, sure. What are the dangers of going to church repeatedly without option, though? Going to church is not a chore. Being a member of a church is not a burden. You don’t have to go to church, you get to go to church. All of us are guests in HIS sanctuary – His house. What an amazing privilege. Could you imagine having guests over who only come out of habit? They eat your food, take advantage of your hospitality, and leave like, “eh, that was ok.” Is going with apathy better than not going at all? Is going for your children a noble decision? If you don’t know why God wants you there, you’ll probably never gain much from it. God’s plan is for us to come to know Him, and then to grow in our relationship with Him. To know… and to grow — those are the key words. Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings (in my life).” (Philippians 3:10) Can you grow in a relationship with Him out of habit? How do grow in any relationship? By spending time with Him — in prayer, discovering the Bible, and having community and worshipping with God’s people. Before you enter church this week, ask God to speak to you through every part of the service — the sermon, music, prayers, whatever you’re a part of — and draw you closer to Himself. A guest of our church talked to me recently about wanting to be faithful, but they struggle with creating good habits. I simply told them, “Rather than letting this become a habit, let’s make coming here a choice.” Allow coming to church to be an opportunity more than just a responsibility.

1. “I go for community.”

I go to church because I need to be with my church family. I go to encourage and be encouraged. Life can beat you down and I need my family to help me through my week… I’m not alone. I have my church family.

People underestimate how big of an influence the people you surround yourself with have. If you never surround yourself with believers… your mind will slowly float away from God…

I often heard growing up that the reason people go to certain churches is because their friends go there. They’re just going there to hang out. “The only reason they’re members there is because that’s where their family goes.” On paper, I agreed with this criticism. What confused me as I got older though were the countless times in the Bible where we find community/fellowship as such a high priority. From the dawn of our very creation, God saw a need for relationship (Genesis 2:18). It carries on throughout scripture multiple times, this idea this His people will be a great nation, a great community (Genesis 12:2). As it carries on in the New Testament, Jesus countless times teaches on the need for community, fellowship and relationship (John17:20-23, Philemon 1:6) We need each other! We need encouragement, a shoulder to cry on, we need to be loved. As great as God’s love is to us, sometimes His love displayed through the life of another believer is exactly what we need at a particular moment. It shouldn’t be ignored, the impact people you surround yourself with have on your life either. Solomon tells us to, “Walk with the wise and become wise.” (Proverb 13:20) They say the fastest way to pick up another language is surround yourself with people who speak it. If you want to walk with Christ, know Him better, receive wisdom from Him in raising your family, wisdom in finances, you need to surround yourself with people who walk with Him too. You’ll discover the longer you go to church the difference between the people who go to worship Him, who are seeking Him, versus the people going to church. Your attendance isn’t what He is seeking. Your participation is what He longs for. Participating is easier when surrounded with participators, not just mere spectators.

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The children of God were the Israelites and the tabernacle is where they went to worship. They never referred to the tabernacle as the Israelites. That wouldn’t make sense. The Israelites wasn’t a location, the Israelites were a people – God’s people. The church isn’t a building. She isn’t an event you plan, produce or sit back and critique. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a called out assembly of saved and baptized believers, gathered together to carry out His commission until He returns just as He promised. Why do you go to the House of God? Do you, like Jacob, go to remember what He’s done? Do you, like many of the Jews in the Gospels, go to speculate? Whatever your reason, I pray this blog has caused you to stop and ask your why you’re going, or perhaps why you’re not. Discover for yourself, for your family, why you should, and may God richly bless you. Signing out for now. Talk to you again soon. Thanks for reading.