WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT ‘CHURCH’

     Many have the wrong idea about church because some view church as a social club while others think they should be entertained. If there are not enough programs or activities to baby-sit their children, they will find another church that will meet their needs.

Due to our culture, many view the church this way because we live to be entertained. While there is nothing wrong with being entertained outside the church, we must not view the church as a time of entertainment or just a social hour. If these are your reasons for going to church, then you do not know the real meaning behind going to church.

     When we go to church, the building that we meet in is just a building because Christians are what make up the church/body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; Col. 1:18). Whether we meet in our building or out in a field, the church will be there.

When we come together to make up the body of Christ, we do so to worship God in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24). To worship Him in Spirit means to worship Him with your heart fully engaged. To worship Him in truth means to worship Him according to His Word (Jn. 17:17). Both these elements are necessary to be pleasing to God. We cannot just worship God from our heart, and we cannot worship Him by blindly following His Word with our hearts disengaged.

     So, our main reason for going to church is to worship God according to His will with our hearts engaged. While we tend to want to add or take things away from how God says to worship Him, we must realize that God does not need our innovations. When we try to add things, we do it for ourselves, but as Jeremiah said:

Jeremiah 10:23 O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

     In addition, the writer of Proverbs says: Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. Some like to think the church is not that important, but to say that is to say that the body of Christ is not important and that His sacrifice on the cross, which purchased the church, is not important (Acts 20:28). If the church is not the important then why did Paul teach that we must be in the church to be saved (Eph. 5:23)?

Since we must obey the commandments of God (Mt. 7:21), we cannot ignore the verses that tells us to give on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:2), partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), and not to forsake the assembling of ourselves (Heb. 10:24-26).

      If you have been going to church for the wrong reasons, I hope you will start going for the right reasons.