Why go to Church?
by S. Brown 22 Mar, 2022
Rick Warren suggests that there are five key reasons (or purposes) to attend church:
- worship
- fellowship
- discipleship
- ministry
- mission
These are drawn from two key passages in the Bible, in the book of Matthew – 22:37-40 and 28:19-20. It is here that believers are encouraged by Jesus to love God with their all, love others as they want to be loved and to tell the world about God.
Let’s break each one down to understand.
Worship
The definition of worship is a feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. Basically that means that we, through our words and/or actions, acknowledge and give thanks to something that is greater than us. For some people they may worship their wealth, their job, famous singers or the universe. For believers, their focus is God.
Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Isaiah 12:5
Worship is an opportunity to give complete focus to God, to be united with others in praise.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. Psalm 95:2
When we come to church, we glorify God. God shows us from the beginning the beauty of community – God, Jesus, Holy Spirit – three in one living perfectly together. He created man and woman to support one another, to celebrate together.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together Psalm 34:3
‘When believers come together they ‘make melody with their hearts to the Lord‘ Ephesians 5:19 (Empahsis personalised mine). Together, worship is better, it washes over us and we unite in voice and action, it strengthens us and draws us as one, closer to God.
Romans 15:6 says ‘so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’. Not only does it unite us, but it should also be a reflection of what worship in heaven will look like.
Neither Jew or Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28. In heaven, we will be united, not divided. We will sing loudly, unashamedly that our God is an awesome God. Why should we not try this now? Jesus prayed
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10)
Let us worship together in Church so that we can create a piece of God’s kingdom here on earth, a visual representation of what we can look forward to in heaven.
Fellowship
For most of us, fellowship brings to mind a group of friends or like minded people who enjoy spending time together with a common goal. In the Lord of the Rings, the fellowship of the ring was made up of nine individuals brought together by the need to save their world. They didn’t look like each other, they weren’t of the same class, or have the same education. Their skills were different. Yet, together they were stronger than apart. Together, they encouraged each other (Samwise standing by Frodo until the end), gave advice (Gandalf and Eragon who led the group), supported each other (Legolas and Gimi who pushed each other when needed in battle) and forgave each other when needed (again Samwise who consistently remained faithful to Frodo even when he was not nice to him).
Fellowship in churches is the same. In 1 Corinthians 1:9 God calls us to be in fellowship with Him – an inner relationship with Him. Rev. Bob Gilliam wrote that fellowship is an action word; ‘it is doing together’. So we should be contributing to each other, sharing with one another and participating in church life together. No where does it say to sit silently and move through the church. In stead we are encouraged to serve one another, to do God’s will together. Church life is more than Sunday morning services, it involves actively doing God’s will together. So yes, that includes learning together, being on rosters together and even more by serving in the community fulfilling His will – bringing the kingdom of God to everyone.
Kelli Mahoney writes that fellowship gives us a picture of God. Together we form one more complete picture of God, as Paul wrote in Romans 12:4-6, ‘we though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others‘. I am reminded of Jesus’ closest friends, the 12 disciples. Jesus spoke to the crowds regularly, and often they didn’t understand, but to his close group he took the time to explain his parables. To bring them into a better understanding, of how to live out what they were hearing, a more complete picture. He then sent them in pairs to tell and show others how to do the same. Each member is different, has different gifts and abilities, but together those in the church are able to accomplish amazing things. Together God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit created the world, together the church can show the world God.
Discipleship
Paul wrote in Ephesians 3 ‘to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.’ and in chapter 4 he wrote: ‘And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, [12] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [13] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’.
Discipleship.org writes that the church’s job is to train its members to be disciple makers AND to help all its members grow into maturity, which is the fullness of Christ. The church is uniquely positioned to teach, guide and challenge its members to grow in the walk with Christ. That means holding them accountable, encouraging them to take steps of faith in the community, and standing by them as they speak words of hope and love to those around them. Discipleship in the church is two fold and both parts are bringing glory to God. While practically, we can learn about God from His word, to get a deeper relationship takes community, fellowship – Church. Church is the place where we can get teaching from those who are gifted, we can also receive teaching from others actions and their words, by the way they serve and care for others. In Church we can have mentors, individuals who can hold us accountable, which is so important in this day and age where it is so easy to let things slide, or to down play the effects an action may have.
Ministry
What do you think of when you hear the word ministry? Is it political? Is it religious? Or is it something else? Ministry in a church is actually about serving, doing something for someone else. It is not always the person up the front, though they are ministering to those who listen. It can be that you are serving tea and coffee after church, or you are cleaning the chairs after they have been used, or you are sitting beside a teenager as they try to read the bible. Ministry can be so broad, that the potential is endless! When people in the church commit to a ministry (what ever it may be), they are committing to building the kingdom of God. They are fulfilling the great commission by telling the world about God through their actions and words.
Casting Crowns song At Your Feet, says ‘But if we are the body, Why aren’t his arms reaching? Why aren’t his hands healing? Why aren’t his words teaching?’. This is the role of the church, to be the arms, hands and words of Christ. “Why is his love not showing them there is a way?” because we are not actively taking part in ministry in the church. We think someone else will do it, or they are better at it, or my kids need me now – later, I need a rest – I’ve been working for 40 years. Life seems to get in the way of ministry, it is like we think that our 80+ years are not enough to get everything done, that there is no time to do what God has asked us to do. And yet God gave us exactly enough time to do everything HE wants us to do. So what is holding you back?
Mission
What does mission look like in the Church? It looks like fulfilling Jesus’ final directive – to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). When we go to Church, we are given the opportunity to learn how to share our faith, to learn with confidence what our faith means and are surrounded by others who are learning too. When we learn together, we feel encouraged by those who have questions, because they are often our same questions. As we learn, we practise on one another. The more we practise the more we increase in confidence, and then we feel strong enough to share the Good News with our friends and family. When Jesus left this world, he entrusted his disciples to tell the world about him and God. They in turn entrusted the same principle to all of Jesus’ followers. As believers, it is not our job to be sidelined once we are converted. We are to be active in this world. The children’s Sunday school song about keeping a candle under a bushel, highlights this by saying that our faith is not just for us, but for everyone. Surely, when you know that a bus is about to run over a child, you run out and save them (or at least call out!). As followers of Jesus Christ, we are directed to not be silent, but to call out, or run out and save others from a life that seems hopeless.
Mike Bennett writes that mission is two fold in the church: to teach all that Jesus has shown us and to tell others about the Kingdom of God. As we serve beside each other, we are outwardly showing the world the Kingdom of God. Though we are all different, our ability to work beside each other for the benefit of others, shows a loving kingdom, and kingdom that God created us for. As we work beside each other, caring for one another, we also learn from each other, we mentor, we share, we care. Mission, is caring for those near and for those far. It is looking outward towards someone else and seeking to serve them, just as Jesus washed his disciples feet, to show his love for them, and to model for them what the Kingdom of God is all about.