Why you need church and why church needs you

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 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2020 about 65% of Americans consider themselves as Christians.  That's a declining number, but still more than half the people surveyed.  I find that number interesting because on Sunday morning, you'd be hard pressed to prove it by church attendance.  

Christians need to be around other Christians.  It's how we spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Fellowship is how we learn about each other and when we can find out how best to pray with (or for) someone who has a need.  It's where we get to share our spiritual gifts with one another.  It's where we're taught Scripture by our shepherd, the pastor.  That's the purpose of church.  

The pastor of my church spoke about this on Sunday (and he was very passionate about it!)  and one thing he said really struck me in a way it's never done before. It's the last part of verse 25  which says we're to "meet all the more as you see the Day approaching."  I realize people have been predicting the end of the world since the minute Jesus ascended up to heaven, and here we are.  But then again, since 70 AD until 1946, the Jews weren't back in the promised land as a nation.  I realize they're not fully back in the promised land, but I think it's safe to say that the Day is a lot closer than it was.  If anything, we need to be meeting more, not less.

The reasons for not going to church are as many as the people who call themselves Christians who don't.  If you don't attend regularly, you have your reasons.  I had mine.  Mine were thinking that I was a Christian because I believed that God existed and that Jesus said who He was.  I believed the facts about Christianity without actually being saved and it was evident in how I lived until I actually got saved in 2010.  Then I found out (mostly the hard way) about what being a Christian was all about.  I found out that I needed church for a lot of reasons.  Then I found out I was supposed to BE the church.  

And then I found out something else.  I found out the church needed me, too.  We have spiritual gifts to share. We have talents and experiences that we bring to make the body of Christ, the local church where we worship, better.  The church can use us when we volunteer to make myself available when the need arises and when opportunities arise to serve come along.  That's part of being the church.  It's about bringing something to share so the many parts make up a better whole.  

How about you?  If it's been a while since you've been to church, I'd encourage you to make Sunday the day you change that in your life.  Now is the time.  It's time to get plugged back in where you belong.  If you're a Christian, you know that God is your #1 priority and it's time for you to return to the house of the Lord.  Anything less is just not Biblical.

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