It’s time once again for our monthly opportunity to get answers to your questions on the bible, faith, and the church. Professor Brad Sickler from the University of Northwestern answers your questions about the importance of attending church.
We address this topic with an important question from a Faith Radio listener,
“My friend says he hasn’t gone to church in 3 years. He says, ‘getting together with Christian friends enough,’ but I don’t think that’s what Hebrew 10:25 means. How would you address this issue from a biblical perspective?” –Kathy, Faith Radio listener
Professor Sickler responds,
“Let me address this from a few different angles. One way to ask the question is, is just meeting with other believer friends an adequate substitute for a church? I would say no.”
He expands on several reasons why it’s important to attend a church,
• It’s not just about having communion with other believers; it’s about worshiping God together.
• We can hear teaching of the Word of God from somebody who has authority, training, expertise in understanding and interpreting it.
• The body of Christ can act as a body and function properly.
• The church can take on tasks and do missions that are not feasible for just a small group of friends.
• The church can take us out of our own ‘bubble.’
“If I’m just being with my Christian friends; we’re basically the same age, we’re basically the same kind of background, we’re basically the same level of education, approximate incomes, etc., these sorts of things lead to a kind of bubble that I immerse myself in.”
Attending church also provides us with an opportunity to acquire generational wisdom.
“There are old people, there are little children; we’ve got the nursery as a place to help out, we’ve got people from different educational backgrounds, different theological perspectives that frankly we probably wouldn’t be friends with or wouldn’t spend much time with if it weren’t for that body.”
As Christians, we are called to glorify God and meet important needs within the body of Christ. Professor Sickler elaborates,
“So you get some of what you need from having those Christian friendships; they’re very important for that kind of stability, Christ-centeredness and philosophy of life that we share with people that we are close to. But there are many, many other things that we need as part of a walk with Christ within the body.”
