I recently watched a portion of a sermon that came across one of my social media feeds. I was struck by the harshness of the title of the video at first, but I continued to watch. The pastor in the video was speaking to a congregation about one of his churches that he serves where he has had to challenge them lately. He told them that if they only went to church once in a while, it was like he was their spiritual drug dealer and they were there only to get their fix. 

He went on to say that the church ought to be a hospital for those that need healing. However, it cannot remain a hospital forever. That is why some people stop coming. They have been healed so they go back to the life they once lived. Then, when they need to be healed again, they will pop back into church for a week. 

This pastor suggests that the church should first be a hospital, then a family, and then an army. People should come to be healed, stay because they have become part of the family, and then be deployed to tell others that Jesus is coming back. The church cannot succeed if the people only show up to get their fix and leave.

I have often thought about the nature of the churches that I have served. Some have been social clubs, others mission-minded outposts. But many of them have had the same problem, people just do not go to church anymore. They all complained that people just will not show up on Sunday morning. 

Perhaps, then, we need to rethink what the church is. Maybe you grew up singing the song “I am the Church, you are the Church, we are the Church together.” It is a hymn that reminds us that the church is not the building where we worship or the act of worship that we perform on Sunday mornings. Rather, the church is all those who claim to be Christian. So, in essence, you and I are a part of the church that has existed for centuries! But can we still be the church if we do not actually engage in the body of Christ?

The answer is simple: “No.” We cannot claim to be a part of the body if we have wandered off looking for something else to do. 1 Corinthians 12 reads:

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

You matter to the church, the body of Christ. If you are not here, we feel it. If you only show up when you are not super busy in life, when will you be here? It is easy to make excuses to skip church. The hard part is convincing yourself that church even matters. 

Here is why church is important: We will never be as strong as we can be if we are not all in this together. Your life will never reach its full potential without Christ and the church. God has a plan for you, but you will miss it if you are infrequent in your time with your church family. Not only do we care for one another here, we also push one another to know Christ more. That is discipleship at its core. Then, when we are solid in our faith, we will want to tell others what we have found. 

So, no more excuses. Come to church. See what God will do with you and your family when you commit to follow Him more closely. There is no better time to start than now. No better place to be than here. Come and see what the Lord will do.

Grace and peace to you all,

Pastor Jake