If you are a christian do you have to go to church?

Question

i'm not asking whether it makes you 'unsaved' if you don't. i don't believe it does.

what i want to know is your opinion on the verse 'don't forsake gathering together' (paraphrased). does this really mean we need to go to church or does hanging out with other christians qualify as 'gathering together'?
does the bible really teach we have to go to church? i was under the impression that we ARE the body of Christ regardless of whether we go to church or not.


(I'm asking this question in response to an answer i recieved in a previously asked question.)

Frankly, I find minimal encouragement at church and often end up leaving more discourged than when i went. it doesn't help me the other 6 days of the week though either.
i'm sick of pat answers and "i'll pray for you...see you next meeting".
i have been to bible college so i don't ask this lightly or without some knowledge.

thanks for the answers everyone, i appreciate it.

i'd really like some biblical basis for the answers if you can, rather than just - 'its a good idea'.

Wow, i don't think i realised quite how contentious this subject is!
Frankly I'm surprised how many people responded with the 'doctrine of church attendance' . But i do thank everyone for their answers, most of them made me think and a few of them helped widen my perspective.
I was a little disturbed that some of the bible verses used have not been carefully interpreted though, (according to generally accepted sound biblical guidelines for interpretation)... does this reflect that we just regurgitate what we are taught from the pulpit without really studying what the word says for ourselves?
i am worried about false teachings of works in addition to grace, being taught and unchallenged in our fellowships. it is spirit-killing stuff that is becoming more and more tolerated. i pray the Lord would make his people discerning.

i wonder how the believers in the chinese house churches and those christians who are unable to have 'services' due to freedom restrictions, would answer this?

Answer 1

The purpose of the church is that followers of Jesus come together in unity to praise and worship the Lord, to pray in unity, to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus, to be taught the true doctrine, to give and receive, to fellowship, to encourage one another ... until the coming of Jesus Christ. The church is supposedly made for our good. Unfortunately, there are churches that look like businesses or military camps. Pastors/ministers build their "little kingdoms", and they don't even care about the sheeps but they care about numbers. A minister supposed to be a servant not a ruler. Ministry means service and not power. Some people misunderstood biblical concepts like "authority", "submission", "ministry" etc. Christians get frustrated because of bad leadership and prefer to stay home watching TBN. God has nothing to do with that ... men with their pride always looking for power. There are many others reasons why Christians don't go to church.

There are churchgoers and Christians. A Christian is someone who follows the teachings of Jesus-Christ. Go to church doesn't make someone a Christian. There are a lot of Christians that don't go to church and there are a lot of churchgoers who are not Christians.

Also, there is a big difference between churchanity and christianity: there are people addicted to church and are involved in 150 programs "doing the work of the minsitry" but don't have (or barely have) a relationship with God.

I encourage Christians to go to church ... to bond with brothers and sisters because it's not good to be isolated.

Answer 2

Wow I was going to quit for the night until I saw your post. Well I was raised all my life to believe that church attendance was not necessary for salvation. And I raised my sons that way in my first marriage. I read the Bible to them and read from The Hurlbuts' Story of the Bible But I never had my family attend church or meet the other young people or me interact with other men and my wife interact with other woman there. I limited what God could do to use my Christian brothers and sisters could do for me and I could do for them.

I got remarried at 53 years of age after my first wife died of cancer. And my youngest son is almost an adult and will not attend church. None of my sons do. But I remarried a woman who raised a daughter and they both attend church regularly. I go to churc faithfully and promised the pastor I would do that for them.

Church attendance is important. But just as important is knowing church doctrine. I am new with this. Fortunately I have learned enough about the Bible and God's Spirit has shown me much wisdom over the years so I can tell what is good or not.

Put it this way. Jesus Christ did not do his three year ministry alone. Instead He chose 12 disciples that had 12 different unique personalities. That shows that even though we are not perfect, we all belong to God with different abilites and gifst taht we should be united and work with each other to combat sin and share the gospel and God's love to every man.

I am glad I did not learn to late to start attending church and become joined with a body of believers.

Also the devil hates the church and use any means possible to destory it. Why? Because Jesus started it after his ressurection. And the devil ever since the beginning has always looked for ways to destroy God's creation of love.

I'll quit for tonight. God bless you. Also when you go to church just remmeber you are there to worship God and not man.

Answer 3

Yes we are the body of Christ, but attending church places us with other Christians. You also set an example for other people, your friends, and your family. If one hasn't a church that will feed you spiritually, just keep looking, and ask God for guidance. He always will lead you in the right direction, if you take time to listen. Not going to church is going to keep you out of heaven, but if you want to fellowship with other Christians, you will have to find a church.

Answer 4

As a true Christian, we are a part of the body of Christ. Christians need to read God's word, be in daily prayer and try to follow God's laws. Church is required but not mandatory. Ideally we go to continue to hear God's word and congregate with others of the same faith for accountability purposes. With that said, it is beneficial to go to church but we shouldn't get caught up in the legalism of it. From my personal experience there have been people who go to church EVERY Sunday and yet they are only going only in order to keep up appearances. Then there are those who can't go for work reasons or whatever and they are the most Godly people I know because they live and walk in their faith on a day to day basis.

Answer 5

God's Word tells us we should gather with other believers, dear one. This is because it keeps our faith strong, as well as puts us into a position where God can use us to encourage other believers. If you don't go to church, or some kind of fellowship, whether it's a house church or home group of some kind, you are missing blessings that God wants for you, even though you can still be a Christian.

God bless you!

Answer 6

The church is the body of Christ. (Ephesians 1:22-23) Can you be a christian outside his body?

The verse you referred to is Hebrews 10:25. Verses 24 and 25 say that we are to come together to encourage one another. This requires that you meet together with other Christians for this purpose.

Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 say that we sing to one another and teach one another. This is worship to God, but it is also for the purpose of encouraging and teaching other Christians. How can you obey these commands without meeting together in worship with other Christians?

There are other things we are also instructed to do in the New Testament that cannot be done alone.

The very first church met together often! (Acts 2:41-47)

Finally, the word "Christian" means "Christ-like". Can you immagine Christ asking "Do I have to go to the temple"? (Jesus would have worshiped in the temple. The church was established after Christ assended back to heaven.)

David was called "a man after God's own heart". His attitude toward worship was, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."

Shouldn't we have this same attitude?

Answer 7

Being a Christian means that Christ is your savior. Do you have to go to church for that to be true? No.

But good luck living the Christian life on your own.

Answer 8

i do not fairly get what you're asking. Are you 'procuring' for a church? Having been a practising Catholic for 40 years, i can inform you that if you're severe about being a catholic, you could ought to take instructions contained in the Catholic faith and then time you need to qualify to recieve the sacraments. once you actually grew to change right into a Catholic, you need to comprehend that in accordance to the Roman Catholic faith, it really is the single genuine church, so that you need to no longer be a Roman Catholic and a member of a protestant denomination at the same time. you could ought to %. one.

Answer 9

I believe that I'll go to heaven even though I rarely go to church and yes I am a born again christian but I see problems with any recognized religion they all have flaws .

Answer 10

it is not necessary to go to church as it is just a building we are the body of christ. It is best to go to church to commune with other christians and to help with your spiritual growth. just because someone goes to church does not make them christians it is taking the lord as ur own personal saviour. We are the body of christ and the church as stated in the new testiment. you can have fellowship with god in your own home. where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name i am there saith the lord