I wrote this in my sophomore year of High School as a chapter for my autobiography.
"So what church do you go to?"
"I don't go to church," I replied, bracing myself for the inevitable.
"You don't go to church?!" gasped my friend. I knew what was coming next, "So you have never been baptized?"
"Nope."
Her jaw plummeted downward, causing her mouth to gape open in shock. Here it comes, I could feel it.
"Then you're going to hell."
There it was. I sighed patiently and went on to explain that, just because I didn't attend church, didn't mean that I don't believe in God. Quite the opposite, actually, I have a fierce love for Him.
In my head, I silently tried to recount the number of times I had heard that statement. It stung a bit, kind of like salt on a papercut. Why did people have to be so judgmental? I was only in seventh grade and had already recited my response so many times during previous occasions and debates that I practically had it memorized.
I think the Dali Lama put it perfect when he said, "This is my simple religion. There is no need for a temple; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."
Unlike the majority of my friends, I did not grow up in a household that performed the early Sunday morning ritual of going to mass. Although we aren't church-goers, religion has always been an open topic to discuss. I do not believe that it's necessary for one to go to church to be accepted and blessed by God. I am of the opinion that faith is all that truly matters, as long as you stay devoted to it.
Another statement that ties into that notion is one spoken by Ghandi: "Religion is not what you will get after reading all the scriptures in the world. It is not really what is grasped by the grain, it's a heart grasp." Religion is something you need to feel inside of yourself, it's pure and honest and cannot simply be picked up. Or as Thomas Jefferson had voiced, "It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read." Don't just speak it, live it. There are times when words are not enough to prove our convictions.
My beliefs have become so intensely rooted in the past few years that it's almost unbelievable. I can no longer conceive of a life without this unconditional love streaming through my soul. A unique sense of comfort is drawn from the fact that I feel perpetually protected and that no matter the circumstances, there will always be someone I can turn to for guidance or strength.
My creed and convictions are something that I have grown into on my own, something that has matured me, and made me stronger. I believe because I want to, not because I was told or taught to do so. That, in itself, creates an indestructible bond.
As I near the end of my "lecture", I remember something I once read: "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one with no faith, no explanation is possible." Although my friend has faith, she looks at it from a different angle. I know why I believe what I do, and she knows what she believes. No explanation I give her will convince her that I'm wrong or right, and that's not really what I intended to do in the first place, anyway. If anything, I just hope that I have opened up her eyes to a new idea and expanded her mind's eye. Isn't that what life's all about?
Can you still be a good Christian and not go to church? Is religion something more personal than that? How do you practice your faith?
True
Comments (15)
Yeah, church doesn't matter. But you knew that.
Can one be a Christian and not go to church? Yes, but it's very odd behavior for one who is in Christ and therefore part of the church. There could be times when a Christian might not go to church, such as away on missions, on bed rest, or out of town perhaps. But, it should never be the norm.
The author's post doesn't really state her beliefs. Presumably since this is on Revelife the person is a Christian, and she did mention Catholic Mass at one point. My question to the author is, have you placed your trust in Jesus? Or do you just claim to love God as some vague spirituality? Jesus made it clear that to trust in Him is the way to eternal life, and those who didn't trust in Him would not see eternal life but instead eternal torment. Are you trusting in Jesus or do you just believe that you love God? There is quite a difference.
If you say you are in Christ then I wonder why you wouldn't have a desire to join in the body of Christ that belief in Christ places you into. To be absent from the body is clearly not something that fits with Scripture.
Find a church, attend, and become one in the body of Christ, don't neglect this need that all Christians have.
Viewing the author's profile indicates she is a "strong agnostic" and not a Christian. To the author, if she should happen to read this, seek out Christ while He can be found and place your faith in Him not in agnosticism or in vague spirituality but in Jesus the son of the Living God, the one who died to deliver all mankind from their sins if they would only place their faith in Him. He is the only one that can save us from our sins.
Depends how you define "church."
The definition I think you're using is a building...in that case no.
If you define "church" as a body of believers, then yes, I think it is necessary to belong to a "church," whether informal, so as to grow with others. I think fellowship with other believers is a HUGE thing, and really important when it comes to going deeper with God.
For me, when at university, I don't go to a church in the terms of a building every Sunday morning. Mainly because I can't find a church that I'm completely comfortable in. However, I am a Christian leader on campus, hold prayer meetings, and lead Bible studies.
Also "good" christian seems kinda meh to me, offsetting, faithful I think is a better word *shrug*
Yea, I'm basically like you except I have gone to church for most of my life, but as of late, I've become disillusioned with the idea of going to church. I much prefer working my faith out on my own without masses of strangers silently surrounding me. It doesn't help that I don't tend to like masses of strangers silently surrounding me in general.
I don't see why it should matter so much. After all, some church goers are the most hypocritical assfaces ever so why should we be exclusively criticized? Our faith is ours alone. We should be able to work it out without people butting in telling us we're going to hell.
For Jews and Catholics there is no option. We must go to Church. We must obey the Commandment, "Thou shalt keep holy the the Lords Day."
Nevertheless the Ten Commandments are normative. That is they are rules for all people to live by.
The sun shines on the righteous and wicked alike. So just because a person feels happiness and joy effortlessly that does not mean that the Commandments are to be rejected.
Because human beings are subjected to sin we are unable to apply our minds directly to spiritual things. That means the Church must be the center of life. Having the Church as the center of life brings order to the human life that is disordered by sin.
One can be a Christian and not attend Church. Christ lives in the individuals who follow Him. But if the love of Christ is in you, you will love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and desire fellowship, spiritual growth, worship and accountability with them. Although there are many informal ways this can happen, they tend to lack the discipline, structure and longevity that can benefit your growth in amazing ways
Many Church goers are hypocritical, but I find it just as hypocritical(maybe even more hypocritical) for someone to say they love Christ and yet refuse to participate with a body of believers because of their hypocrisy. To those who give the excuse that they won't attend Church because of hypocrites, here's my advice:if you are so much less hypocritical, go to Church and make a difference. We are to function as a body, not random fingers and eyelids running solo.
To not go to church and to assume it is not important are recent developments of our society. Historically speaking the idea of going to church is assumed by Christians and rightly so. We are commanded to not forsake the assembling together of ourselves! As for baptism, the Christian who does not seek it to be done as soon as possible is like a person who is dehydrated not looking for a drink of water.
Does not attending a church or not having been baptized mean a person is not a Christian? No! Believing from the heart that Christ is Lord and Savior who died for the remission of your sins and that He rose on the third day is all that is needed for that! But when a confessing Christian lacks the church and baptism and has abundant opportunity to have both it should easily raise an eyebrow as the weather his faith in Christ is true. The Church is the body of Christ. How then can the hand say that it has no need of the arm?
And lets not forget the Lords table! Where can a Christian who is not in a local congregation have them rightly administered?
Grace and peace!
~Michael
Wow, the first part of this post ("Do you go to church? No?! You're going to hell!!") is a perfect summary of what my childhood was like growing up Jewish. Oh boy...
But I agree with @christiangirl@datingish - "church" doesn't have to be a building with pews, an organ, choir, and potlucks every Sunday, it just has to be a body of believers worshiping together, lifting each other up and holding each other accountable. My concern with church in the traditional sense is getting too comfortable in one that waters down the gospel to gain more members. I'm still searching for the right one, but until then I have my youth group and my Bible Study and those have certainly helped a lot.
God is Trinity. Man is made in God's image. Just as God exists in eternal communion, so must Christians. One cannot be a Christian and not go to Church (well in the norm). The same goes for baptism; it is tied to salvation. Not having it is missing something. The Christian is not an individual but a person, and the Christian relationship to God is not a private one.
Personalizing our citizenship in the kingdom, allegiance to Christ, and relationship to the Father as his child and as Christ's bride is misguided. When we are baptized (which seems like a nonnegotiable to those who are able according to the New Testament) we are raised not only into unity with Christ but also his Church. When we partake of his body and blood we are united both with Him and His. If we love Him we must also love the church because she is His bride and we are an inseparable part of her. How can the arm say to the leg "I have no need of you" or function as though it has no ties with the leg? Together they make the body complete.
As much as I love the Dali Lama I think his words fall incredibly short of what is expected of us by the Father. It's not good for man to be alone. As Stanley Grenz wrote, we were created for community. When we focus on ourselves so much that others fade into the background we have a problem. We are to be united with our faith siblings and to hold them higher than ourselves. We can't do this while simultaneously neglecting fellowship with them. When we look at the Church in Acts and for the first several hundred years after Christ it seems they were always together and worshiping together as often and for as long as they were able.
Even if Sunday gatherings aren't ideal they are something to invest in.
i don't blame you for not wanting to go to church... very few i've ever known seemed worthwhile to me even when i was a zealous Christian. fellowship should only be important when it's more beneficial than damaging. it should never be something you force yourself into... i can't imagine that God prefers us to be miserable and at church, than happy and on our home.
I think it depends on the denomination of Christianity. Some denominations have decided that to be practicing and to be true to your faith, you MUST go to church. However, others have decided that while church is preferable you really don't have to do it in order to be practicing and true to your faith.
Personally, I don't think it really matters. God knows what is in your heart.
And as for your friend telling you that you're going to go to hell for not being baptized, I think when friends say this to other friends it is usually less about them trying to judge you, and more that they are worried you aren't aware of this or that you aren't taking this seriously. They are concerned about your spiritual well-being and don't want to see a friend of theirs walk what they obviously perceive and believe to be such a self-destructive and damning path.
After all, if you saw your friend, before your very eyes, doing something that you knew would put them in danger, would you not tell them, "hey, don't you know that's going to ____?? Stop it!"
However, it can be tiresome and very sad to hear something like that so often from your friends, as if they think they are the first and only ones to say it and as if they aren't really giving much regard to how it will make you feel. And, I don't know your friend, but I hope that she wasn't doing that to truly hurt you. Some people will, but a friend will only say it out of loving fear for your soul.
Religion is something that I feel ought to be more personal than that, but that doesn't mean that church is completely unimportant, either. And of course there are MANY ways to be a good Christian.
I understand why you don't go to church and I totally agree that we doesn't have to go to "church" but I think in order to mature in our faith we need fellowship with other believers , among other things. Plus It's really hard to grow if you aren't around other believers . If you don't feel comfortable going to church or just don't like it. I would suggest getting a small group together of fellow Christians who you feel comfortable with and meeting once a week ( or joining one), kinda like a bible study:)
absolutely!
You dont' have to go to church to get to know your God. - Jedi Mind Tricks
I think it's better for me not to go to church. I tend to disagree with many of the pastor's conservative personal beliefs. Church is the pastor's take on the scripture he is preaching on. Some people just mindlessly follow the pastor's views and don't really have an understanding of a personal relationship with God.