I Used to Go Church, Why Don’t I Enjoy It Anymore

I Used to Go Church, Why Don’t I Enjoy It Anymore

     This a very interesting and intriguing question. What should a person do who no longer wishes, or has no desire, to attend church anymore? The answer to the question is not simple because the cause could be as varied as the people asking it.

     So, let me begin with the primary purpose. We attend church to worship God and to study his Word in order to learn more about Him and our relationship with Him. Our modern-day church is a product of the Old Testament Jewish temple worship. The Jews gathered to offer sacrifices to God in order to place them in right relationship with Him. They also met to study the Word of God (Luke 2:42-50) and to learn of Him. We meet to worship God “because” the sacrifice has been made which placed us in right relationship with God. And we meet to study His Word and to learn more about Him. And God has given the Church the tools to do these things (I Corinthians 12:7ff). If we are to stay in right relationship with God and mature as believers we must gather together for worship and study.

     Every born-again believer has been given a gift from God when they were saved. We are to use our gifts to help exhort and encourage each other. So, not only do we attend church to worship we also attend in order to serve. We attend church so that we can use our gifts to help others. When one stays away from the fellowship of believers his gift is absent as well. If I draw encouragement from you, then when you are absent I am not encouraged as I ought to be. If your gift is teaching, the fellowship will miss your words of wisdom when you are absent. Every believer adds to the body. We do not come to church simply to take from it. We come also to contribute to the worship and fellowship. If your gift is helping, think of how many things may not get done as they ought to have been simply because you stayed home. Every believer is essential to the Body of Christ. And as the day of his appearing nears, our fellowship together is of greater importance.

     And God has also commanded that we do so. The Church is not only encouraged to fellowship, the Church is commanded to fellowship together. Paul wrote in Hebrew 10:24-25 “And let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works, (v.25) not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” We are to use the gifts God has given to each of us as tools to establish and to strengthen the Church. And Paul adds that this is especially important today as we see the day of Christ’s return approaching. One has not to look far before seeing the weakness of the modern church in society. We must “provoke to love and good works” each and every member of the Body of Christ.

     Also, God expects His children to be obedient. If God says to attend church then we must obey, “And Samuel said, Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To listen is better than the fat of rams!” I Samuel 15:22. When we accepted Christ as Savior we should have become his servants as well. But, who we serve in life is an on-going choice, “Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to him whom you obey; whether it is of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness” Romans 6:16. Should Church attendance be enjoyable? Yes. However, as we find in so many areas of life, we must do the right thing whether it seems enjoyable or not. In time, we find that obedience brings joy. Disobedience brings discipline (Hebrew 12:5-12) and discipline is never enjoyable, “Now chastening for the present does not seem to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised by it” (Hebrews 12:11). However, the disciplining hand of God eventually brings “the peaceful fruit” but not until it brings us back to obedience.

     And best of all, if we may call one reason better than another, when we meet together we have a greater sense of the presence of Christ than we could ever have when we are alone, Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” The very presence of Jesus Christ himself becomes even more evident when we are worshipping God together. There is something special about the fellowship of believers filled with the Holy Spirit of God lifting up the name of God in praise and worship.

     When a person no longer enjoys church attendance the reasons could be myriad. However, I find most often that we have become disobedient in other areas as well, and that we have begun to worship for the wrong reasons. If we attend church in obedience to God and in order to worship God, to learn more about him, to fellowship with likeminded believers, to experience the presence of Jesus Christ, and to use the gifts which God has bestowed upon us in order to build and encourage other believers, we will undoubtedly enjoy attending church. 

I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS

I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS

                   Do you have friends? Surely, we all do. Or, at least we all like to think we have friends. A friend is precious in this life. What a lonely journey it would be if we walked the rugged terrain of this life all alone. We need someone beside us, if for no other reason than to assure us that in the most tragic events of life there is one nearby whose love we can be assured of (Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”).

                   The friends that we have, assuming they are true friends, care about our character. It is a friend who will let you know when you fall short in kindness, love, hospitality, honesty and even in holiness and godliness. As friends we work together to become the children of God we are called to be. In our interactions with each other there should be mutual ‘honing’ of our very personality (Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend”). It is not always pleasant to hear about our shortcomings. But, knowing those criticisms are coming from someone who cares about us does make it a bit more palatable. 

                   So, do we have friends? Most will say, unhesitatingly, “Yes, of course I do.” In fact, just a little while ago I personally looked at my Facebook page and saw that I have 147 friends. I must be really friendly (Proverbs 18:24 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly….”). I think we know those are not all ‘real’ friends. Many are relatives. Some are recent acquaintances. And some may just be pretending so that they can snoop around a bit. Regardless, the fact is most have only a few real friends.

It is those we call real friends that I want to focus on. What would you do for a friend? What would you not do for a friend? I can hear it now, you would go to the ends of the world, you would move mountains. Why, many of you would dare to say that you would even die for a friend. That is all commendable, it really is admirable. I don’t doubt at all that you mean it from the very depths of your soul. But, is it true? 

If a friend needed your help desperately, would you help even though in offering your help you realize the very moment you do you will lose the friendship you cherish so dearly? What if coming alongside to pull your friend out of critical danger costs you his/her friendship forever? Many Christians like to pick-and-choose the passages of Scripture they will adhere to instead of embracing the entirety of God’s Word. Paul made it very clear who our friends should be in 2Corinthians 6:14-18 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? (v.15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (v.16) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (v.17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (v.18) and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Yet, with well-crafted excuses and ‘reasons’ many, calling themselves Christian today, have mostly unsaved friends. And to maintain those ‘friendships’ they do all of the things the ungodly do. They go to worldly events, engage in worldly conversations that would “embarrass a sailor” and even go to clubs and bars (but not drinking of course, making it Ok). But even that really is not the issue.

A friend will always warn of danger and will even take the proverbial bullet if need be just to protect his friend. Are we friends if we know one we love is about to suffer beyond imagination and we say nothing? In the fear of losing a friendship today, will you be silent if you have trustworthy information showing your friend is in grave danger.

We are told to evangelize the world. Yet, we remain silent around our “friends” because we want them to continue liking us. Will we actually allow a friend to suffer the agonies of hell for eternity so that we can have 20-40 more years of a pleasant relationship today. Is that kind of selfishness definable as friendship? Think what the day of judgment will be like. As we stand beside the King of Kings justified, redeemed and glorified, what will we say? When the one we dared to call “friend” hears, “depart from me, I never knew you” and he pauses momentarily fixing his horrified gaze upon us, will we dare to say, “But, I didn’t want to harm our friendship”?

I have often wondered if, looking deeply into our eyes, we will hear them say with broken hearts, “I thought we were friends.”