Do you ever feel like church is a waste of time? Do you ever wonder, “What’s the point of attending it?” Maybe you only go to church occasionally for those reasons, but my hope is that no matter what your situation is, this article will show you why you need the church as a Christian, and more specifically, why you should attend it regularly.
We go to church for accountability and encouragement
An important aspect of going to church consistently is accountability, encouragement, correction, and discipleship. We were not meant to walk the Christian life alone; we need the church. Hard things come up in our lives like health problems, deaths of friends and family members, work problems and various other things. It is hard for others in the church to come along side and help us with those things when we are not at church very often. The church is there to help you (Acts 2:45).
We go to church for discipleship
Something I have found to be very helpful is finding a wiser, older adult in your church to disciple you. There is so much we, as young people, can learn from our older brothers and sisters in Christ (Titus 2:1-8). It is like the relationship that Paul and Timothy had. This person is someone you can meet up with to talk over coffee. They keep you accountable, teach, encourage, and pray for you. Ultimately, they help your relationship with Christ grow. I have had some women over the years who have done different aspects of this for me, and it has been extremely helpful.
We go to church to worship
Another reason we need to attend church consistently is because we get to worship together with other believers. We can worship God in whatever we are doing (school, work, eating, etc…), but it is special when we get to worship together as a church body. Some parts of worship that we can do together at church are singing (Ephesians 5:19), praying, and partaking in the Lord’s Table (Acts 2:42).
We go to church so we are not led astray by false teachings
We also need the church so we do not get led astray (Ephesians 4:11-13). There is a lot of information we come across every day and a good amount of it can be false, even information we read or listen to from other sources about the Bible. The Pastor is there to teach us so we can mature in Christ and not be led astray by these false teachings.
Church is not a one-sided thing
Now these are just some of the major things I found. If I were to research more, it would probably become a gigantic list. One thing I don’t want you to think after reading this article is that church is a one-sided thing. We can’t go to church just for these benefits but not contribute. We are part of the body of Christ. It is both our job and our privilege to use our gifts to serve the church (Romans 12:6-8).