Testimonies

Why Is Church Important

There are numerous articles written by individuals who are much more qualified than I in explaining the importance of church attendence, but in this article, I will cover what I think of the church and the importance of it.

I have heard many people, Christians included, question and debate the importance of regular church attendance or even attending church at all. Attendance in churches is decreasing in much of the world where it used to be very important to people. Nowadays, many churches only offer a Sunday morning service whereas in the past, people used to attend regularly, even coming back for more on Sunday night with a midweek service as well. Churches today are challenged with keeping people interested and it seems that with a big rise in livestreams, many churches have dropped down to only one Sunday morning service or shut down completely. Perhaps the question “Why is church attendence important?” is the wrong question or at least must be secondary to the real question which is “Who is church important to?”

In our self-serving society, we are accustomed to getting everything we want, the way we want, and when we want it. We have been conditioned to believe that our life is the most important life on this big planet... “Is church important” is then answered by how you, the “important one” feel about the subject. There is One out there who is bigger than you are! He created you. He gave you life and even allowed you to wake up this morning. But did you know that He also invented the church? In Mathew 16:18, Jesus said, “…I will build my church…” Again, we are constantly bombarded with messages about looking out for number one. This is why I ask you “Who is church important to” God is number one and it's His church. We ought to be asking ourselves what God thinks about church and then line our thoughts up accordingly. It was important enough for Him to build, so I should make it important to me!

Notice also Acts 20:28 “...the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Notice how the verse tells us God purchased the church with his blood. That is a huge cost. You generally don't purchase something unless it is important enough for you to invest in it. Church has been bought with the blood of God. We could spend eternity mining the wealth of the planet and we would not have sufficient to pay it back. Church is important to God, He built it, and He bought it!

With these in mind know also that God Loves His church. In Ephesians 5:25 the Bible tells us “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” He loves it, and He gave what we could not, He gave himself for it. I want you to ask yourself something. Do you love yourself? I'm not talking about a self-serving, selfish love. I'm asking if you love yourself in a basic way. You don't hate yourself, do you? Do you eat, do you take showers and brush your teeth? In Ephesians 5:29 God states “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church:” We take care of our needs because we don't hate ourselves. God cherishes the church, it is important to Him, He built it, He bought it, and He loves it.

Think with me to the origin of the word Christian. The word Christian is found in the book of Acts chapter 11. In Acts 11 we find phrases such as verse 17 “who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ…” We also see people in verse 18 who “glorified God” and in verse 21 “a great number believed and turned unto the Lord.” Then in verse 26 “...And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Christian is a term given to you because others can see you as a true follower of Jesus Christ. A person is not a Christian because they were born in America, nor is it because their parents went to church. One is a Christian because he is a follower of Jesus Christ. Notice that when the word is first used, it is used to identify people who were “with the church”.

There are many reasons why the Church is important. The greater question is “Who is the Church important to? Church is important to God and if you are a Christian, it ought to be important to you as well!