Do you have to go to church?

Question

Do you believe that you have to go to church to prove your faith in your religion?

Answer 1

No... Your church, your faith, and your belief is in your heart and your mind. You don't have to go to a multi million dollar building just to prove you are religious. Reading, studying, and understanding the Bible are the things you need to do to have faith in God.

Answer 2

Going to church does not prove that you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. There are some people who go to church and don't know Him. It is by grace through faith that we are saved not by works, lest anyone should boast. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. That does not mean we stop sinning when we are saved, but how can we , for example, go out and rape someone and not have the least amount of shame? How can someone stay like that? In Romans 10:9 it says, that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God has raised him( Jesus) from the dead, you will be saved. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Let me get on the subject of church again. It is a good place to grow in Christ and to have fellowship with one another. We should go there to worship Him. Not all churches are for Christ, so keep your eyes open.

Answer 3

In my opinion, no. I look at going to church on Sundays as a little 'extra credit' as far as your faith goes. I believe that you 'prove your faith' more outside of church.

Answer 4

It probably depends on what "religion" we are talking about, but for Christianity, the answer is no. To be saved you only need to realize that you are a sinner, and believe that God sent his son Jesus to die for your sins so that you could be forgiven and have eternal life.

Attending church, however, is beneficial to Christians because it is an opportunity to fellowship with other believers. It kind of "renews" your spirit each time you go and worship God with others. Its refreshing to share in these times with other Christians, especially if you spend alot of time with non-believers who criticize or don't understand your beliefs.

Attending a church service each week is not the only way to fellowship either. As Christ said, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20) There are many opportunities to fellowship with other Christians.

All in all, God knows your heart and what you believe. Therefore, attending church will not "prove" anything because he already knows. Likewise, those who attend church but don't truly believe or want a relationship with Him can't fool God into thinking they are believers.

Answer 5

Your faith is best expressed through how you live your daily life. Are you living up to the moral standards of your faith during the course of your day? Do you use the activities of your day as exercises in faith and as reminders of faith? How you live the other six days of the week says much more about the true nature of your faith than whether you spend time one day a week inside a building.

Answer 6

It depends on what you consider a "church". The bible does promote church, however, in the bible a "church" is considered two or more people joining together in worship. You do need some sort of support system in order for your relationship with God to grow. Even though the most important relationship is the one you have with God, he also wants you to reach out to your "brother & sisters" in Christ as well as the non-believers.

Answer 7

Your faith should be in your God not your religion. It is good to got church, so you can encourage and uplift your fellow believers. To me going to church is important, it takes my mind of everyday problems and give a chance to sing and praise God, be with other christians. Faith is important, but faith alone will not save you because faith without work is dead.

Answer 8

You don't have to go to prove your faith in your religion - but if you are a christian, the Bible says in Hebrews 10:25 not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together - in other words dont forsake the church, you need each other.

Answer 9

The question reflects the wrong attitude. If you love God, instead of “have to”, why wouldn’t you “WANT TO” spend time with a group who is worshiping Him and studying His word?

1 Corinthians 13:6 tells us that love “delights in the truth”! Shouldn’t we delight in every opportunity to study or hear a message preached from God’s word? Sholdn’t we delight in an opportunity to study together? King David said, “ I was glad when they said to me ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord!’” (Psalm 122: 1) These verses represent the attitude we should have about attending worship! We love God, so this is our desire.

The church is called the “body of Christ” (Ephesians 1:22-23). Can you love Christ without loving his body? Our fellow Christians, collectively are this body or church. (1 Corinthians 12:27) We are specifically told that if we do not love our brothers, we walk in darkness (1 John 2:10-11). We are often instructed to love each other. If we love our fellow Christians, shouldn’t we WANT to spend time with them? The proper attitude will cause us to have a desire to worship with the church.

Finally, to sing to one another (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16), to encourage one another, to teach one another and to have fellowship with each other, requires us to be together. These and some other things the Christian should do, cannot be done alone. To forsake the assembly is to miss these opportunities.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, NOT FORSAKING OUR own ASSEMBLING TOGETHER, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another…”

Those in Acts 2:42 continued to devote themselves to fellowship. This showed their love for each other and for God! This is the attitude we should have.

If your mind is set on doing only what you "have to" do, a desire to not attend church is only a sigh of a much greater problem.

Answer 10

The Scripture teaches that we are not to "forsake the assembling of ourselves together", so I would say that it's necessary, but how often depends upon the individual I suppose....You should be going to worship God! The way you live your life in front of others should be what "proves your faith"!

Answer 11

Absolutely not. I don't go to church on a regular basis but I talk to God daily. Religion and faith should not have to be proven to anyone. It is between you and your God.