A local church defined biblically is “a group of believers banded together for worship, edification, service, fellowship, and outreach; accepting spiritual leadership; willing to minister to all segments of society through the various gifts in the body;” and regularly practicing the sacraments.[1] That’s why any celebration of a “church-free” Christianity is problematic.
Although I’ve had many seasons where I didn’t look forward to going to church, here are my favorite quotes on its importance:
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:23-25, NLT
“The more I go to church… the more I turn myself over to the process of believing in Jesus and listening to his Word and having him guide my hand… you cannot train yourself. I feel the same way about Christianity and about what the church is: The church is the gym of the soul.” -Sylvester Stallone
Stuart Shepard, “The Gym of the Soul,” Citizenlink.com (11-15-06)
From Phillip Yancy in his book, Church: Why Bother?:
- “I deliberately seek a congregation composed of people not like me.”
- “The church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its nonmembers.”
- “The church is like manure. Pile it together and it stinks up the neighborhood; spread it out and it enriches the world.”
- “The church is composed of equal parts mystery and mess.”
- “Frankly the gospel has little to offer people who don’t admit need.”
“Sanctification, again, is a thing which depends greatly on a diligent use of Scriptural means. When I speak of “means,” I have in view Bible-reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God’s Word, and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification. I can find no record of an eminent saint who ever neglected them. They are appointed channels through which the Holy Spirit conveys fresh supplies of grace to the soul, and strengthens the work which He has begun in the inward man. Let some call this… [a legalistic] doctrine if they please, but I will never shrink from saying there are no ‘spiritual gains without pains.’ I should as soon expect a farmer to prosper in business who contented himself with sowing his fields and never looking at them till harvest, as expect a believer to attain much holiness who was not diligent about his Bible-reading, his prayers, and the use of his Sundays. Our God is a God who works by means, and He will never bless the soul of that man who pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get on without them.” -J. C. Ryle
J. C. Ryle, Holiness (Cambridge & London: James Clarke & Co., Reprinted 1956), 20-21.
“Friends, do you realize how vital it is to gather here together on the Lord’s Day, Sunday after Sunday? Satan loves to isolate us. This is a killer! Don’t neglect to gather together with God’s people in worship! You’re here today—but your presence here today is not just for today. It’s for five years from now. Twenty years from now. It’s for a time when you may find yourself alone in a cancer ward; or isolated from Christian fellowship in a desolate place; or in prison for your faith; or in terrible turmoil within your soul; or alone at home, in the middle of the night, after you’ve buried your loved one in the ground.
You cultivate the means of grace today for sustenance you may need way down the road. There are seeds that are being planted today in your heart that may not blossom into full fruit until many days from now. But your attendance in worship, your participation in baptism and the Lord’s Supper and confession and praise and thanksgiving and singing and intercession and hearing the preaching of God’s Word—it’s all being woven together by sovereign grace.”
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/go-church-even-dont-feel-like/
Recommended for Further Reading:
- Church: Why Bother? by Phillip Yancey
- Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
- The Body by Charles Colson
- Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church by Phillip Yancey
- Desiring the Kingdom by James K.A. Smith
[1] I’ve adapted this definition from one David Dockery gave at a class I took at Southern Seminary.