Why We Need to Get Back to Church

Why do I attend church? What is the desire inside that calls me there? Where does it come from? Do we human beings have an intrinsic desire to believe there is something or someone bigger than ourselves that deserves our worship, our praise (even if we never acknowledge such a feeling)?

I believe we do. I know I do.

I not only want to believe in something greater, which I accept as the one true God, but I also regard as true the evidence of such a thing. Earth herself shouts to my heart that someone loves us enough to have created such a beautiful, magical, mysterious place for us. He wants us to seek him.

But back to church.

I have gone through many seasons wherein the churches we attended felt like the kinds of places and people that Jesus told us to be, but then I have also experienced just the opposite. Sometimes I feel like I should go back to my Catholic roots and the Mass that feels like its sole purpose is to worship God and remind us that this is our sole purpose as well. Other times I worry that going back to Catholicism would still leave me wanting the parts of church and worship I have found in other places.

Church, the service, should be about worshipping God, the Father and Creator. It is about worshipping Jesus, who bled and died as the perfect sacrifice for my sin. It is about feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit and letting him into my heart so that I might commune with God and therefore be changed into a new, better person.

Church, the service, is an opportunity to give my time completely over to the worship of my God, hopefully with nothing to distract me from this holy activity. It is likely a time I can praise him through song, no matter what my voice sounds like. Joining together with others who share my faith in Christ has the power to connect me to humanity and give me reason to hope that we can make the world a better place because God is there with us and he always shows up.

Church is not about me getting a message, although I certainly have felt that happen for me. It is about hearing the Word of God and praising him, worshipping him because of all we can know or remember about him by listening. It is about sharing the crazy beautiful story of the gospel of Christ and the love he has for all. It is about worshipping him because of his extravagant love, his power, and his glory.

Hearing God’s Word, processing it, and applying it to our lives; sharing the gospel; and living in a way that pleases him are examples of ways we are still the church when we walk out the doors of the church building and into our regular lives. We are still Christians when we are not at church. How can we show the world and our neighbors how much Jesus loves them? We can and should be the first example of his love.

Church is like our homing device, our lighthouse, our beacon. It helps redirect our attention back to God each time we go there. This doesn’t have to just last for the hour or two we are there, but extends as long as we let it. I think this is why some Catholic people attend Mass more than once a week. We are human and fallible, and if we are honest with ourselves, we need that redirection often. Being in a sacred space that is dedicated to the Lord seeps into us in an unexplainable way.

Even though I look at the church (meaning the many churches that are under the umbrella of Christianity today), and sometimes I see brokenness, sin, and imperfection, I know I need to be inside one of those buildings praising the Lord. Maybe my disenchantment with the churches we have attended over the years really just highlights the fact that we are human. Maybe I should look at this feeling as a reminder that God the Father, with his Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, deserves my worship, and show up back in church.

1 Corinthians 14:26 says, “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.”

We Christians have both good and bad seasons, good and bad circumstances. We also have so much to offer one another, which can lead us back to the God who gave his only Son so that we might live this life, right now, abundantly. He deserves our praise, honor, glory, and gratitude for this redemption through Jesus. It’s been noted by many authors, therapists, and laypeople that giving thanks has many benefits. I want to give credit where credit is due, and that starts with God. I would not be anywhere without Jesus and the grace he offers through the sacrifice of his perfect life. I know I should start by showing up at church to give thanks for that sacrifice.

While I can certainly show up in my living room, in front of the television or computer screen, I also know there is something powerful about corporate worship. I don’t think I can even fully explain it, but if I know it in my heart, then I consider that it’s probably the Holy Spirit working in my life. I guess I should probably get back to church. What about you?

Carla Clemens enjoys a crazy, beautiful life with her military husband, four sons, and a daughter. A baby interrupts her homeschool days in the best ways, and she is always attempting to live with mindfulness of each moment. She hopes to look at the world and each person in it in light of our amazing Creator, and therefore, to see each moment presented as an opportunity to love and serve him more. Carla relishes time to ponder God’s Word and have quiet moments with him and her coffee. She loves doing life with other mamas and encouraging them to simply be who God has made them to be.

Photograph © Luca Bravo, used with permission