Being Part of a Local Church

In its initial envisioning the Christian Gamers Alliance was designed to serve as a supplement for the local church, encouraging local church attendance and involvement. That is still the vision of our leaders.

With that in mind, this thread will present reasons for being part of a local body of believers and be a forum for discussion on the importance of being an active part of that body.

To begin – I am going to present the Top Ten Reasons NOT to Join the Church that I have heard over the years. Feel free to add your comments and insight.

#10 "I can be just as good a Christian outside of the church."

Maybe, maybe not.

You definitely can be just as saved without being part of the church. Praise God for the thief on the cross who – never attended church – never took communion – never got baptized – never read the Bible – never went to prayer meeting – or anything else we count as the marks of a good Christian – yet our Lord said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Or for the death bed conversion, where the angels rejoice for another soul saved. Most of us are looking for more from the Christian life than to be admitted to heaven by the skin of our teeth. We want to hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I often hear people say, “I can worship the Lord on the golf course (or standing in a stream fishing or some other activity that keeps them from being in a worshiping fellowship) just as well as in church. In fact, even better, being out in God’s creation.” The question is not, “can you,” but do you?” Most people who make those comments do not worship God when they are away from church.

Let me ask you, can you be as good a student without being in a course of study? Well, yes, but probably not. A few people are disciplined enough to study on their own but most people are not. Unless someone is guiding them and holding them accountable they simply don’t study. Can you really call yourself a football player if you refuse to be part of a team? Can you be a good Elk without attending the meetings of the Elk? Can you even be a good Costco member if you never go to Costco?

God designed you for worship, discipleship, fellowship, service and sharing your faith. He intends you to do these as part of His family, a local body of believers. There are depths of experiencing His love you cannot discover apart from His body. There are joys that you cannot know apart from being a member of a local church. There are blessings He intends for you that only come in fellowship with other believers. It is how he made you – to belong.

One last question: what does it say about you if you do not want to identify with the body of Christ?

Eventually we will get to the biblical basis for all this, and the theological discussion of church membership – right now, this is just the first of the top ten reasons people offer for not joining the church.

I hope you'll stay tuned in through #1.

Huzzah!

I've been looking forward to this thread with great anticipation. I've taken great care in the last several years to never portray the Alliance as a substitute for participation and involvement in the local church. I've also witnessed firsthand the wonderful blessings that involvement in a local church body can bring to a Christian.

Abba San has agreed to take time out of his schedule and write content for posts that I hope will encourage members of our community not currently attending local church worship services to start. My other sincere hope is that members sporadically or even occasionally attending services will seek to get more involved in their local churches.

I've wanted to share a message along these lines with the community for a long time and it's very encouraging to me, both personally and "professionally"--as President of the Christian Gamers Alliance, to see the first post in the series.

Well stated. I'm in complete agreement and I'm glad to see this attitude displayed by the leadership here.

One addition I can think of is concerning the spiritual warfare we engage in on a daily basis. By meeting with other local Christians on a regular basis we can support each other in our prideful/lustful struggles as well as encourage and admonish one another. While God is big enough to support us by Himself outside of church fellowship, He has instituted the church so we can help support each other. This helps both the supported and the supporter learn and grow from the experience.

#9 “I’m not sure how long we will be living here.”

We do live in a transient society. People are free to move about (like in the Southwest Airlines commercial) and we have the means to move about. Kids go off to college – Moms and Dads take new jobs on the other side of the country – we want a better place on the other side of town – older adults retire or simplify to places they have always wanted to live. My wife and I lived in 14 different places our first 18 years of marriage.

We do move and you never know for sure how long you will be living there. Why bother to get connected - to make friends or commitments that may end at any time? Let me ask you a couple of questions: when you moved to a new place – did you put your children in school? Did you turn on the power? Have your mail forwarded? Get a phone and internet? Sure you did. You made connections even though you didn’t know how long you might be there.

In the same way, you need to be connected with God and His body – a family of believers – ESPECIALLY when your life is in transition. It is during those transitions that we are most likely to rely on ourselves instead of leaning on others. During those transitions we change our habits (we’ll talk more about this later) and stop going to church. We get disconnected from God’s body and we end up disconnected from God.

When we are moving to a new place - even if we don't know how long it will be - church is an ideal place to make a few connections. I remember when we first moved from our lifetime home in Atlanta to upstate New York. We seriously wondered if we would find any friends, much less Christians, up there with all those Yankees. Guess what - we did - through a church. It took us a little while to find them (more on this tomorrow) but the support they offered while we were transitioning to living in New York - that was priceless.

Apart from the boxing things up and actually hauling them around – it is pretty easy to move. It is pretty easy to move your church membership, too. And there is no hauling of boxes involved.

#8 “I cannot decide which church to join.”

Often, I find that people who use this excuse are not really looking for a church. If you are without a church you need to be looking. That means checking out the newspaper or internet or driving around and then getting up on Sunday morning and actually going to a church.

Then you need to try that church for a while – take a good taste. When I have been in church hunting situations it is uncanny how often I go to a church and the youth pastor is preaching, or a visiting denominational dude is preaching, or something special is happening. You have to go six or eight times before you get a feel for what a church is like as a norm.

You look – then you taste – then you get involved. Maybe that is joining. Maybe it is finding a small group. Maybe it is finding a place to serve. You need to get involved – take it to the next level. It is kind of like dating. It is nice, for a while. Everybody is putting their best foot forward, it is actually fun. But…at some point you have to decide, “Is this going anywhere?” If it is, make the commitment – take it to the next level.

A variation on this excuse is, “I’m looking for the perfect church.” We all want a perfect church – but the perfect church does not exist. If you find it – the second you walk through the door it is not perfect anymore. I don’t know you but I can almost guarantee that you are not perfect. A church is a collection of sinners – some saved – some almost saved – but sinners.

You are not going to find a perfect church but you can find a church that is perfect for you. Is this church a place where you can worship God? Will you grow as a Christian here? Are these people you would enjoy fellowshipping with? Can you find a place to serve in this church? Are these people going to help you reach out for Christ? Then maybe, even with its shortcomings, this is the perfect church for you.

There are a lot of churches with a variety of flavors – denomination – music style – preaching style – size – formality – age of people – and a host of other factors that go into finding a church fit. There is one for you. Every church has its own personality. You need to find one that fits your personality. When you do, do your best to make it a church others will want to be part of, too.

I don't like how the English language uses word "church" to mean the entire body of believers, a building for worship, a congregation, a particular denomination, and/or members of clergy. It makes for some confusion with a topic such as this.

Yeah - you are right. But the Bible doesn't make any distinctions. It is just translated differently when it comes over to English - assembly - congregation - gathering - building - to help us understand what is being referred to in the Bible.

ekklesia - was actually a secular term for those who were "called out" to hear an important message in the town square. It is used to describe the people assembled to take Paul to task in Acts 19. Paul pretty much redefined the term to those "called out" for Christ or God.

The interesting thing, to me, about ekklesia is that while it is, in fact, used to refer to the universal church on occasion, its primary use is for a specific body of believers - those in a particular area. They didn't have "churches" - buildings - when Jesus used the term in Matthew 16 and 18, or Paul throughout his writings. It was always the people.

We'll get into this more when we look at the biblical basis for being part of a church.

Thanks for your comments, Patriot.

#7 “I was forced to go as a child.”

My response when I hear this excuse is, “Oh, the horror – that you would do something on your own that you were forced to do when you were a child!” This is actually a bit silly if you stop and think about it. Most of us didn’t want to brush our teeth when we were children – I hope you learned that it was beneficial and you do it on your own now that you are grown. Most of us would only be eating hotdogs and macaroni and cheese if we only ate what we were not “forced” to eat as a child. Again, I hope you learned that veggies were good for you and can taste good, too.

To say, “I was forced as a child so I won’t now that I’m grown,” is, quite frankly, a form of childish rebellion. “I wasn’t big enough or strong enough back then, but now…” Rebellion is expected in children, but it is unacceptable from children of God. You are not a child. Maybe you have some growing up to do, but you are not a child. Start making wiser choices.

Closely related to this excuse is, “I had a bad experience at church – my feelings were hurt – somebody did or said something stupid – I didn’t like the way they… – the music was…” I understand. Those things do happen. But is that a reason to swear off all churches forever?

If you go to your favorite restaurant and the waitress is having a bad day, do you never go back to that restaurant? If you go to a new restaurant and the service is bad and the meal is bad – you may not go back to that restaurant, but do you swear off all restaurants? “I’m never going out to eat again!” No – of course not.

I know people who have a bad relationship and come out of it swearing, “That is it – I’m never going to be in a relationship again! I’m never going to let anyone get close enough to hurt me again!” That is so sad. The sad part is that some people actually do that – they set themselves up to always fail in relationships or to pull away when things just start to get good. They live lonely, hurt lives.

Unfortunately, many do that same thing with going to church. A bad experience and that is it - never going again. Even if they do go the next church just reminds them of the hurtful church - "See, I told you." They set themselves up to never have a positive experience with church again. They miss out on so much.

We were made for relationships. We were made for fellowship. Church is there for our benefit. We need it. Grow up – quit being childish – get over the bad experience – find the joy of being with other believers.

#6 “I have to work on Sundays.”

There was a time in America where the easy answer to this excuse was, “Well, just find another job.” Those days are long gone. Jobs are hard to come by and if you find a good job you might have to work on Sunday mornings. It is not because you don’t care about church or because you have an evil, church hating boss. That is just the way our society and the job market are these days. What are you to do?

Sunday morning, 11:00am worship grew out of our 19th century agricultural society. People could get up, get their chores done, get cleaned up and be to church by 11:00. Now churches have services at 8:00 or 8:30, 10:00, 11:00, 11:30, 1:00, 5:00, 7:00 – almost any time you might pick on a Sunday. Churches also have worship services on Saturday or Friday or Thursday. There are more options because people need more options.

Our church isn’t large enough to support a variety of worship days – we are a Sunday morning worship church. But that is not the only day we are open. We have Bible studies all week long in a number of locations. Ministry and service opportunities are also all week long – morning, noon and night. We have a number of active, involved members who are rarely able to attend a Sunday morning service but are a vital part of our fellowship.

“But, to me, worshipping with other believers is important.” I agree, it is important. If your church only does Sunday morning, it may not be the church for you. You need to find another church – one that also worships on another day.

“But, to me, Sunday morning is the only time I can worship.” Then you really do need to find another job. Your relationship with the Lord and His body is just as important as any job.

Abba San said:

Your relationship with the Lord and His body is just as important as any job.

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In my opinion, it is more important than any job.

That may be a discussion for a different thread. I don't want to see this thread devolve into a battle of opinions and half-supported theories. But Abba San brings up another good point:

We have a number of active, involved members who are rarely able to attend a Sunday morning service but are a vital part of our fellowship.

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There are a lot of people in my church that are struggling to make ends meet, and because of that had to take part-time jobs that have them working on Sundays. My job requires that I work 1/3 of all Sundays - but I'm certain that this job is my calling (and there will never be a point in my career that I get that Sunday taken out of my work schedule)

These kind of situations are the exception, and should not be the rule that keeps us from church at all, especially with the options of services on different days, small groups, fellowship gatherings, etc. There are always choices. Sometimes, quitting the job isn't the best choice. God can do His works through us while we're at work on Sunday, just as He works through the Pastor, Praise team, Media Team, Greeters, Sunday School teachers, etc.

Durruck said:

That may be a discussion for a different thread. I don't want to see this thread devolve into a battle of opinions and half-supported theories.

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If you would like me to "fully-support" it I can. =)

hehehe Abba, I Love ya Man! Note: I have used most of the excuses that you have brought us except the Sunday job and now waiting on you to finish poking my belly hehehe. Sorry me silly but a coy dog circles a food bowl alot before it feeds! A game of trust is for those that are patient enough to win.

lol - I'm taking a little break for the weekend, but I'll start up again on Monday morning with #5. Stay tuned.

#5 “I work hard and I need to rest on Sundays.”

This is the excuse you get after someone has used the #1 excuse (above), “I can worship God anywhere – I don’t have to be in church.” Once you’ve discussed that a bit, they fall back on needing their rest.

First, I’m assuming we are talking about Christians. There is no reason at all for a non-believer to even think about setting aside a Sunday morning (much less a Sabbath day) to honor God. But a Christian – well that is a different matter. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27) The idea is that the Sabbath isn’t there for a person to be crammed into against his/her will, it is there for the person’s benefit. And that benefit is two-fold.

One benefit is – rest. We need rest. We need a break. God made us that way and wants us to schedule them into our lives. Each day – each week – each month – each year – we need a rest. That is not just biblical – medical science has shown over and over – our bodies need a break on a regular basis.

The other benefit is – honoring God. Taking a day to bring honor to God is the commandment in the Old Testament and the expectation in the New Testament. The NT isn’t legalistic about it. Paul told the Christians in Colossae, “So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.” Colossians 2:16 (NLT) At the same time the Bible teaches we are to gather together, worship God, fellowship, grow in Christ, especially on the first day of the week – what we call the Lord’s Day.

Most people who argue they need their rest on Sunday have no other day they set aside to honor God – shame on them (again, talking about Christians). In addition, most of the people who use this excuse are not involved in ministry on Sunday. For them it is a morning off from responsibilities. One of my answers to this excuse is that if they are so worn out they fall asleep – it would not be the first time someone took a nap while I was preaching. I’ll try to hold it down.

Second, an interesting twist on this excuse is the number of dedicated Christians who set aside Sunday morning to serve in their church. They get up early – arrive before others – work getting ready for classes and worship – and then stay after to make sure everything is put away. They have served, but they have not rested nor focused their attention on God. These people need a “Sabbath rest” that is not Sunday morning. If they don’t carve it out of their week, somewhere, shame on them, too. This is a big shame on me. I have a real problem in this area that I have to constantly address.

Finally, remember, a “Sabbath rest” is meant to be a time of refreshment and energizing for the week ahead, and a time of rejoicing and praise for God’s protection and provision. Don’t miss out on either.

#4 “I’m waiting for my spouse to join.”

I certainly understand that. You are a couple and you want to join together. You are comfortable and like it here, but they are not. Okay.

First, you need to be in church together. If this is not the church for your spouse, than you need to keep looking. Both of you need to be in fellowship somewhere.

Second, how long are you going to wait? A month? Six months? A year? How long? Forever? Are you going to sacrifice your relationship with God and others for the rest of your life?

Finally, have you talked with them about it? It is amazing how often couples just don’t talk about religion or church. Sometimes even married couples think that is too personal to talk about. Imagine that. Maybe you need to take the lead. Let them know what you are thinking, feeling and planning to do. Set the example for them. Join a fellowship of believers. Who knows, maybe your faithfulness will touch them as well.

I feel like I'm in a old batman movie hehehe Pow bash klapow n such hehehe Yeah I used both them before but hold on me is tired or me lady won't go or wait hehehe I'm waiting on the knockout for I almost would gamble my last marbles I used it to!

#3 “There are too many hypocrites in the church.”

This is another one of those excuses that is really pretty silly when you look at it closely. This excuse is usually used when someone has had a bad experience with a specific person. Someone who either claims to be or is a Christian did something stupid, hurt their feelings, caused offense in some way. Wow! A Christian who sins! If you are not aware of this, let me clarify right now – every Christian sins every single day. The church is full of sinners – seeking to reconcile their relationship with God and with others.

The problem comes when there are Christians who don’t acknowledge the truth that if we claim to be without sin we are liars and deceiving only ourselves (1 John 1:8,9). Or a Christian who is constantly trying to correct everyone else and not taking care of their own lives. Jesus actually called these people hypocrites:

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5 (NLT)

If you are in a church that doesn’t understand this – maybe you need to be in another church.

The silly side of the “too many hypocrites in the church” excuse is in two misunderstandings. First, people who think that it is hypocritical to do something or say something you don’t “feel” like doing. We are called, as Christians, to overcome our "feelings” and act like Christians. To love someone doesn’t mean you have all these warm fuzzy feelings for the person. To love – is a verb. That is the way it is taught in the Bible. It is what you do. When Jesus told us to love our enemies He didn’t mean we get warm feelings when we think about them. He meant we are to pray for them, be nice to them, help them come closer to God. All these are actions.

A little less spiritual – do you think it is hypocritical to get up when the alarm goes off and go to school or the office – even if you don’t feel like it? Of course not. I take a shower whether I feel like it or not. I pay my bills, make that difficult phone call, take the trash out - and many more things and I never feel like it. It is the same with any activity we fulfill out of a sense of duty, responsibility, or even righteousness. We are called to show mercy – even when we don’t feel like it. Give sacrificially, comfort the hurting, tend to the poor, seek peace, not just when we don’t feel like it, especially when we don’t feel like it. It is not hypocritical to do what we are supposed to do even though we don't feel like it. And, it is not hypocritical to act like Christ.

The second misunderstanding is when people think that hypocrites look for churches and that is where they all are. My response to people who bring this up is to ask, “How about at work? I’m glad there are no hypocrites where you work. How about at your bowling league or on your softball team – I’m sure there are no hypocrites there either. Certainly not down at the Kiwanis Club or Rotary.” And I am sure there has never been a hypocrite in Christian Gamers Alliance. Right. Wherever you go there are going to be people who say one thing and act another way – that is the essence of hypocrisy. Sadly, that is true for church as well. Fortunately, at church you find people who are actually trying to walk the talk, and actually say they are sorry when they do not. Frankly, there are fewer hypocrites at church than in most walks of life.

At church we don’t ask people to be like the hypocrites We don't even ask them to be like each other. We are all striving to be more and more like Christ – to be transformed into His image. He is our standard and our goal. It is not hypocritical to want to be better than we are, to be like Christ.

The church is no more full of hypocrites than any other area of your life. At church we make it a point to not be hypocrites.

Ow! That one kinda hurt for I used it to be absent. Mercy was my key word.

# 2 “I am really not good enough to join a church.”

You might be surprised how many times I actually hear this reason for staying away from church. We work with people on the street – homeless – alcohol and drugs – prostitution – anything that has a person working the streets. When you tell them that God loves them they don’t believe you. How could anyone love them, much less God? To me it is interesting that people think other people are more loving than God.

You see the same thing with Christians when they have been messing up in their walk – they don’t want to take communion. They are not “worthy” to take communion. That, somehow, they dishonor God if they turn to God and admit they are a sinner and need a savior and come humbly to His table seeking to refresh their relationship and commitment to make Him Lord of their lives. What is that about?

My response in both situations is, “You’re probably right.” Then I quickly add, “Who is?” The fact is, the best, nicest, most godly person you know is NOT good enough to come into the presence of God apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ. One of the most devoted, godly Christians you will ever read about was the apostle Paul. Yet, this is what he said of himself:

“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:16 (NIV) [Emphasis added in the English – but it is there in the Greek]

Read Romans 7. Even Paul says he struggles in his faith journey. He doesn’t do what he wants to do – and he does what he doesn’t want to do. His conclusion in verse 24 is, “What a wretched man I am!” Like Paul, we all struggle and sin and fall short of the glory of God. We all stray away. Not one of us is worthy to come – on our own.

Now, read Romans 8. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 (NIV) This is the beauty of the Gospel. God does love us. He saves us. We are precious in His sight. Through Christ, God sees us as worthy. It doesn’t matter how others see us. It doesn’t even matter how we see ourselves. We often don’t see things as God sees things. We often don’t see things correctly.

The truth is, you are not worthy. But you are welcome.

One corollary to this is the number of people who are waiting "to get their act together" before going to church. Once they realize that they may not be worthy, but God does love them, they think they have to reach some standard before coming to church. Now who is being the hypocrite (see #3 above)? You know you are not worthy, but you are going to get yourself worthy - anyway - somehow?

God takes us right where we are and works in us to take us to where He wants us to be. Apart from the Holy Spirit none of us can even begin the walk of faith. Apart from the fellowship of believers none of us will have much success. We need the teaching and prayers and fellowship and accountability and encouragement and support that we get in church to help us “get our act together” and keep it together.

The truth is, you are not worthy. But you are welcome. Just the way you are. You don't have to stay that way - but it is a starting point.