As a pastor, I meet a lot of people who don't belong to any church. And when I can strike up a
conversation with them about church and faith, as you can imagine, I get quite
a variety in answers. Many who don’t go
to any church, but still believe that God exists, tell me you don’t have to go
to church to be a Christian. Often they
add that they can experience God in the woods while hunting, or on the golf
course. Personally, I’ve never been that
good a golfer that I could experience God on a golf course. In fact, I'm so bad I often leave the golf course thinking it's one of the few places on earth totally devoid of God's presence. There is no other way to explain how I golf.
Yet, as often as I’ve heard the comments that you don’t have to go to
church to be a Christian, I've honestly never met a “good” Christian, who
was actively growing in the Lord and taking the Bible at its word, who wasn't an active church member. I’ve yet to met anyone who doesn’t
go to church that prays everyday, who does daily devotions, and reads the
Bible with an eye toward applying what they learn to their everyday
life, so actively seeks to serve others in the name of Jesus.
For years, I agreed that faith in Jesus is the source
of our salvation, and that can, and usually does, happen outside the church
context, so a part of me agrees with them.
But deep down inside I know that for a person to mature in their faith,
they are going to need more. They are going
to need what they can only get in an active, Bible believing church.
So for the next couple of days, I wanted to share some
reasons that I’ve found for joining a local church. In a
booklet called Why Be A Christian, Why the Church, Walter Woodbury
brings out several reasons to join in membership with a local church
congregation. I’ll share a few today,
and the rest tomorrow…
1. Because of what the church is (The living
body of Christ), and what it has for me (opportunities for nurture, fellowship,
growth and worship).
2. Because you need the help of God’s church,
and the church needs you. (As for me, my
feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. – Psalm 73:2)
3. It is selfish and wrong of me to expect the
benefits of the church if I refuse to join it and help to sustain it.
4. I would not want to live nor bring up
children in a community without a church and I cannot reasonably ask others to
provide a church for my family, unless I am willing to do my share.
Walter has four more reasons, which I'll share tomorrow, then I'll share some reasons from Rick Warren, then through in a few of my own.
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