Bad People
Bad and Evil People
If a person does not attend church, does that make them a bad or evil person? I think it depends on who is answering the question. Below is how I would answer the question.
In order to worship God a person is not required to attend a church. If a person has accepted Christ as their Savior then they are part of his body, the church, and they don’t need to go to a physical building.
You may, as a Christian “go to” a building that exclusively devotes calling itself a church or you may not. There may be Christians today that prefer to meet in small groups and study a portion of the Bible together and then talk about what they have read.
There are many ways to “do” church outside of the conventional, traditional idea of driving your car to a specific location, parking in the parking lot and entering into a building. Some Christians may be unable to attend a church because of their health or their jobs require them to work on weekends. Would we classify them as bad or evil people? I really don’t think so. Still others may have their own personal reasons for not attending, reasons that are unknown to us. Some insist that Christians must attend a church because they need to “fellowship” with other Christians. What about fellowship?
Is fellowship restricted to a building that has a sign outside that identifies itself as a church? Is that the only place you can fellowship? Is fellowship something that happens only before and after formal church services, when church members talk to each other? Is that real fellowship? According to 1 John 1:4, fellowship is what we have with God. Fellowship comes because the peace and presence of God that dwells with us and in us by God’s grace. Real fellowship happens when Jesus takes up residence in our hearts and minds. Fellowship is not primarily with any human being in any specific setting at any particular time, in a church building, in a barn or a bus. We can have real fellowship with another human if we and that other human first of all have a real fellowship with Jesus. To simply go to a building that calls itself a church and then before or after services we talk to another person who may or may not be in Christ, that doesn’t mean or guarantee us that we are having fellowship. We can fellowship with others and certainly with God outside of a building. It’s possible to go to a church and have anything but real fellowship because being in a church building doesn’t make you, me, or anyone else more of or less of an authentic Christian. Can you have fellowship with another person in a barn or in a bus? Of course you can as long as you both know Jesus because that is the common denominator of fellowship, not your church, the best church, the biggest church, but it’s Jesus that is the basis of authentic true fellowship. Can you have fellowship with another person talking to them on the phone, by internet, or writing them a letter when you don’t have face to face contact? Of course you can if you both know Jesus.
Fellowship is expressed when we gather to worship together and share the bread and drink of Communion. Fellowship is expressed when we pray for one another, when we care for one another at times of emotional and physical pain. Fellowship is expressed when we gather in small groups to share our joys and sorrows and provide a safe place to be open with another. Fellowship is shared when we eat together, play together, work together, and pray together. Attendance at any kind of church service, in person with others, in a building or not, does not identify us as a Christian. Non-Christians can go to a building called a church just the same as Christians can go to a building that is called church. Church attendance does not result in us having a higher standing with God than we would have if we didn’t attend church.
Who sets the quota on how often a person must attend church? A person must be free to attend or not attend based on their own preference, not someone else’s idea of how often a person should attend. I feel if a person is made to feel “guilty” about not attending church they probably won’t return. A church or its’ members should not encourage this guilt by laying excessive pressure on people to attend regularly. If a person that was attending regularly all of a sudden stops attending for a couple of weeks, they may have a reason for not attending and they do not wish to share that information or reason and people, while caring about someone, should respect a person’s privacy. Everyone for various reasons is going to miss “going to church” on any given Sunday morning. I don’t feel that makes them a bad person or an evil person and I don’t believe that a persons toes are going to be dangled over hell’s hottest flames to “put them back in line”. Missing church is in no sense a sin or something that should cause feelings of guilt.
Attendance is an important factor regarding the finances of any church but a person shouldn’t attend just for that reason. Attendance should be about the desire to worship, fellowship with others, to be taught God’s word. Attending church should a joy, not a dreadful and dreary assignment. Christians should attend church to learn about the greatness of God’s gift of salvation, to learn how to become more like Christ and to have opportunities to minister to others. However not attending every single event each time the church has the doors open, even on Sunday morning is not going to be the demise of the church or anyone as a Christian. For some people being a part of a large church “family” is important to them and their spiritual needs while just the opposite is also true. Many people just don’t “feel right” unless they go to a location on Sunday morning and “do church”. Using myself as an example, there are times on Sunday morning when I just want peace and quiet and to be alone so I stay home. A person’s background can be an important factor how often a person goes to church. I myself was not raised in a Christian home where church or even Christ was part of everyday life so church was never important me. On the other hand church attendance was important to Vonnie and it showed by having 18 years of perfect attendance. Does this make her a better Christian than me? Not necessarily. I once had the idea that there should be at least 80 people attending church every Sunday but then reality set in and I realized that it wasn’t going to happen. I am in no way trying to discourage anyone from attending church or have them stop attending church. I encourage people to attend church whenever and as often as they can to hear God’s word, apply it to our lives and share it with others. A church member once said they could be just as close to God setting in the timber hunting as they could attending church and that is very true. If a person misses church are they really a bad or evil person or just misunderstood?
By John Bailey
References and Contributors
“Living In Peace” by Greg Albrecht
Vonnie Bailey