I often come across those who once loved the church and all that it stood for, but are now not attending at all. It is not uncommon for people to hop from church to church like they do a grocery store. They shop for churches to see what each has to offer them. There is a lack of interest in the local body of believers.
The church that the Bible talks about is not the building, but the people. Those who are saved make up the body of Christ. However, the building is where the body comes together to worship and fuel up to go out to a lost world and do the work of Christ. Those who don’t believe you need to attend a local church have not thought it through. In Hebrews 10:24-25 we are encouraged to provoke one another to good works, love, and the assembling together. We are to attend church more as the nearing of Christ’s second coming gets closer. Certainly, it is much closer than when this was written. Is that your attitude, to attend and be involved in Christ’s church more than you ever have?
Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
We are also instructed to bring our offerings into the church. In Malachi 3:8-10 we are told that to not bring our offerings to God’s house is to rob Him. The only way God’s work and His servants can be taken care of is through the support of His people. While it may be a good thing to support some organizations that are not part of your local church, the local church should come first. Nothing is more important than the winning of souls. However, it is not an uncommon thing to see churches closing their doors and going up for sale because somewhere God’s people stopped following God’s command for the local church. Have you lost interest in supporting a local church? Are you determining how you will spend God’s money, giving a little here and there to appease your conscience? Are you robbing God because you feel another ministry is more important than your local church? I support a lot of missionaries and other ministries, but my tithes and offerings go first to support my local church.
Malachi 3:8-10 “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
The local church has always been important to God and to those who are seeking to serve Him. Paul established many churches, and he did his best to keep up with their progress and to visit them. In Acts 11:25-26 Barnabas sought Saul, who was the Apostle Paul, to come and help him in the church at Antioch. They ministered there for over a year teaching the people of that church. Does it excite you to see the people of God growing stronger in their faith, to watch them reaching out to others to get them involved? Are you involved in growing stronger so that you too can teach others?
Acts 11:25-26 “Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. 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.”
The local church is a biblical mandate for all Christians. It’s time that people who called themselves Christians love God enough to obey Him. John 14:15 makes it very clear and simple. IF we love Him, we will obey. It’s time we stop editing our conscience and listen to God’s word, all of it! Examine your life and see how much time, money, and effort you put in your local church. We need to practice the old saying of what joy is: Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. It’s not about what I think or what I like, it’s about what God says is right.
John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
I John 5:2-3 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
Your answer to this may be that you don’t have a local church, or you’ve been hurt, therefore you have a hard time going back. Pray, and ask God to help you find a good Bible believing church. If it’s a trust issue, don’t look to trust people, look to trust God and He will lead you. We can come up with all sorts of excuses or issues to not attend church, but God does not accept excuses for disobedience. Our obedience shows what is really in our hearts. If we love Him, we will love the things that He loves, and Jesus loved the church so much that He gave His life for it.
Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”
Remember, when you show a lack of interest in the church, you are showing a lack of interest in God. Be honest with yourself!
