Subject: Why Go to Church?
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 09:53:35 -1000
From: Rowland Croucher <>
Organization: John Mark Ministries
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian

Here’s one response (he’s given permission to reproduce).
I’d probably express the reasons differently.

………………………………………….

Why Go to Church? –

An Answer to the Apostate

by Jeffrey Stueber
Copyright (C) 1997, all rights reserved
I am a dutiful Christian who takes my religion seriously.
Part of that entails going to church every Sunday. Those of
us who find
such an action important nevertheless run into people who
find that church has no meaning. “Why bother to go there
just to
listen to a preacher talk?” Such a question deserves an
appropriate response.
First, going is a witness to others. I find that the best
way to witness for your faith at work or in other places is
to bring up the
subject of church. “What are you doing this weekend,” is the
most frequently asked question. I might summarize my Friday
night tasks, my Saturday excursions, and mention church on
Sunday. Those who inquire are likely, if they have no church
of
their own or do not go, to wonder why I am going. If they
ask, the opportunity is opened to witnessing.
Secondly, going allows you to hear the pastor expound on
Biblical passages. I have learned more about Biblical
passages
through listening in church than you would not believe. Not
every sermon will be awe-inspiring and knowledge-endowing.
Many however will. Most Christians don’t sit in the pews
mindlessly taking in every word said. That which is not
important is
shrugged off while anything that proves to be newsworthy is
remembered.
Thirdly, going allows you to meet others of faith. I have
personally met numerous people I did not know were
religious.
Meeting them in church might be the only way to know what
their faith is. They might not speak openly of it anytime
else. This
allows you to know someone else who believes as you do and
gives you another person to discuss you faith with if need
be.
Fourth, going to church can lead to more involvement in
other activities. Thus, the church can function as the hub
of important
lifelong activities. This hub can counteract the effects of
other centers of activities, ones that can lead to deviant
behavior. I have
been involved in activities that I joined through church.
Men’s groups and volleyball tournaments I participated in
are some
examples.
Fifth, if nobody attends, then the church need not exist.
What would happen if nobody went to see any of our national
monuments? They need not be there because nobody has any
interest in them. The same applies to churches. Churches are
not
like monuments for they are many in number. They are also
unique. If nobody goes to them, there is no reason to build
them.
Therefore, churches cease to be a symbol of Christianity in
our land, a symbol that needs to be present.
Sixth, churches remind you of your salvation. The modern day
New Age movement treats all truth as relative and insists
that all
paths to heaven are equal. Creating a ritual of going to
church and insisting on abiding by that ritual reminds you
of the strict
code of Christianity – that of obeying and believing in
Christ for salvation. You are not slack in your faith in
Christ just as you
are not slack in your church attendance.
This concludes my list of reasons to go to church. Let all
who take their faith seriously be able to answer the
apostate when
challenged with the question, “Why go to church every
Sunday.”