Good morning. I was thinking about you early in the day even though I’ve been racing around to find my way in a town that I don’t know. I’m in NC for a writer’s conference but I’ve had you on my mind. Racing from place to place and driving in 7-mile-traffic has been crazy. 7-mile-traffic is a long country road with few exit-areas except for those brand new neighborhoods that have been recently built. Long lines of cars fill these roads. Along the route there have been small country churches and those are what prompted my thoughts of some of you. In all of that mayhem, there have been some 15-mile-traffic areas and on those, I’ve had quiet time which has brought the subject of why people go to church to my mind. Seeing all of the churches along the way, I’ve been wondering why people go to church and also, why are there so many who don’t? It brought you to mind. You may say, “Hey, you don’t even know me” but I say to you, we’re all different but the same so I see your situation in others and have an idea of who you are and the struggles you may have. In fact, we all have struggles. No one is exempt.
Maybe you’re lonely, confused, in debt, or emotionally distressed. Maybe you don’t feel that you have worth or you’re in a bad relationship. Perhaps you are cranky and troubled, unhappy or down right miserable. Could it be that you have some addiction or are in a situation that you see no way out?We all have concerns, worries and problems in life. All of us. Life is a journey and sometimes the journey gets mucky and dirty, dusty and clouded. The thing is…what to do about it?
In thinking about you and who you are it is the struggle that you may be going through that I think I can help with. That sounds so trite I’m sure, but as I look about the world in which we live, I see so many people that are struggling. As I travel to church on Sundays it is obvious that so many people are home. They are non-church goers and I wonder why.
I hear it is often because of the hypocrites. I hear it’s because that person is an atheist or a agnostic and either don’t believe in God or wonder if there is a God. Some say it’s because of the contradictions in Christian’s lives that confuse non-believers. Many times people don’t go to church because they did not go as a child or because they think God does not exist so they don’t give another thought about a Creator.
I’m hoping if you’re not in church at this time you might consider going.
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: Ecclesiastes 12
Here are some thoughts for those who don’t go to church:
1. You are of the Creator and He has a real purpose for you.
Church does not save you. God designed the church as “the body of Christ” and from the beginning encouraged His own to gather and learn of Him. Believers gather to know about God. That’s it. The Church is there to learn of the one who made man.
Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. Ephesians 6:22
2. The people in the church are not perfect and so know this right off.
God is all knowing and all perfect. He is the “I Am that I Am”. Those in the church are there to learn how to “be like Him(God)” for man was created in the image of God.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:27
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23
3. The actual church of God are the people who visit the building. The church building is simply a building. The wooden or brick facade of a church is simply the place where the “church” or “people of God” meet. The church are the people of God.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16
4. God told His followers to “forsake not the assembling together” with believers. He wants His people to participate in church events and gatherings to know Him and learn of Him.
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. Hebrews 10:25
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]. 1 Corinthinians 10:13
5. If you are unchurched, it would be easy to simply find a Bible-believing church and go. If you’re the shy individual or the unassuming type, just simply go in and sit on the back row until you get your bearings together. Simply visit to see what is going on. You might be surprised to see how simple a visit would be.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.Colossians 3;16
6. Going to church would be life-changing if you were to take the visit seriously. If you could envision that God has you in mind when he designed the church, you could easily see how to find Him, grow in Him and help others in their journey. Wouldn’t you love to have your life really changed for the better?
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
7. If you do not know God, it would be of great importance to ask Him to reveal Himself to you. The Ancient of Days says “Draw nigh to Me and I will draw nigh to you”. Once you do this, if you are serious, you will be in a new environment for change in your life. God is all making a difference for you to be like Him. He will help you cleanse your life, make you a new creation and meet your every need.
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
There is nothing that you could have done at any time in your life that God would not forgive you of. Corrie ten Boom, a holocaust survivor once said “ There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”. God has a plan for you. I’m hoping you’ll trust Him today.
