Going to Church

Jesus spoke of building His Church, based on the knowledge of Himself as the Son of the Living God, according to a passage in Matthew chapter 16:
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

The Church can be strong because Jesus is strong, and His body experiences weakness when we are not relying on Him.  As Jesus taught in John 15, the branches draw strength from the vine, and we have to take care to maintain and grow in our relationship with Him.  If we allow the cares of this world to interrupt that sense of kinship with Him, as well as with one another as believers who can provide encouragement, then we find that the Church is endangered.

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There is a passage in Hebrews 10 that talks about the importance of the body of Christ gathering
together and encouraging each other:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Pew Research has released a new study that indicates why people attend church - it's an attempt to dig deeper and get behind the numbers which show, according to a story on the Christianity Today website, "a decline in attendance at religious services from 2007 to 2014, with about a third of Americans now saying they worship weekly and about a third saying they go rarely or never. However, the self-reported weekly attendance at evangelical churches stayed flat at 58 percent."

The Religion News Service article on the same survey shared these findings:

Of those who attend services at least once a month, most (81 percent) say they do so to grow closer to God, but they also cite giving children a moral foundation (69 percent), becoming a better person (68 percent) and receiving comfort in times of trouble or sorrow (66 percent). Ninety-one percent are Christian and 71 percent pray every day.

Regarding why people don't attend church, the story relates this information:

Most notably, nearly 4 in 10 say they simply practice their faith in other ways and remain “fairly religious by a number of measures,” according to Pew Associate Director of Research Gregory A. Smith.

For nearly 3 in 10 Americans, the reason they don’t attend religious services is because they do not share religious beliefs.

37 percent say they "find another outlet for their faith," and an equal number "dislike certain things about services."  Also, "Of those believers who rarely or never attend services, 6 in 10 identify as Christian, and 44 percent say they pray every day."

Among evangelicals, the Christianity Today story relates that 90% attend church to "become closer to God." Just over 3-in-4 "find the sermons valuable," with slightly less attending in order that their children might have a moral foundation.  And, 7-in-10 go with the expectation of becoming a "better person."

Is it working?  Is there a connection to God that people are experiencing?  CT relates:

Pew asked regular attenders if they feel a sense of God’s presence, community with fellow believers, or connection to longstanding tradition. While majorities said they experience all three, women were more likely than men to often or always have such feelings.

And interestingly, millennials felt equally connected to history and community as older adults, but were “much less likely” to feel connected to God. “Roughly 6 in 10 adults under 30 often feel a sense of God’s presence at religious services, compared with 8 in 10 or more in older age groups,” noted Pew researchers.

Among regular attenders, 86 percent of evangelicals say they experience God’s presence during worship services always or often, as do 83 percent of black Protestants, 81 percent of all Christians, 80 percent of all Americans, and 78 percent of Catholics.

So, all in all, it seems there is a seeking that is taking place among people who attend church, and even among those who do not go regularly, they are "finding another outlet."  What that means, as RNS points out, is "unclear."

From this survey, we can consider several points.  For one thing, church attendance is certainly a leading contributor to spiritual growth and a key element of our Christian experience.  But, we shouldn't rely exclusively on church to grow in our walk with God.  While there are some that exercise a binary choice, choosing to not attend church services and practice their faith in other ways, as devoted believers, we can make church attendance a priority, as well as other ways to engage with God, including prayer, personal Bible study, and the integration of Christian resources, which would include listening to Faith Radio or listening to or viewing related content online.  As CT points out, for instance, over 7-in-10 of regular worshipers "pray daily."

At church not only can we grow through Bible teaching and perhaps spiritual discussion, but we can fellowship with other believers - the survey shows, according to Christianity Today, that 56% of Americans attend church in order to be part of a "community of faith," but 67% of evangelicals do so for that reason.  There are enormous benefits to interacting with one another in the Lord.

Make no mistake, the Church continues to be an important component of our society. And, there is certainly room to grow - Jesus taught that the fields were white for harvest, and that is certainly true for this era.  With only one-third of Americans attending church weekly, and one-third not going at all or very little, we have the opportunity, as Christ's ambassadors, to represent Him well and reach out to those who don't know Him.