You Need a Church

by Jarred McCrary

Available data indicate a decline in church attendance nationwide — a trend that has accelerated significantly in recent years. One writer described the rate of attendance as dropping like a cannonball in a pie filling. In case you’re wondering, that’s not a good thing. People need church, and by “people” I mean all people. By “needing church,” I mean that people need the benefits of attending church regularly.

Let me offer you a few reasons why:

You need a church for a steady, balanced diet.

If we are to hunger for righteousness (Matthew 5:6), it’s imperative that we consume the right things, and the church is meant to be instrumental in providing us with that diet. In Ephesians 4, for instance (Ephesians 4:11-16), there are evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip saints for the work of service, to build up the body of Christ, and to help us achieve knowledge, maturity, and stability. Paul told Timothy, a young evangelist working among local churches, to be constantly nourished on the words of faith and of sound doctrine, and to prescribe and teach those things to others (I Timothy 4:6-11). Church should not be the extent of our spiritual diet, but it’s certainly meant to play a vital role in it.

You need a church for the accountability.

By God’s design, there are built-in safeguards in the church. Shepherds are there to watch over our souls (Hebrews 13:17). That’s not the only defense, though. In Galatians 6:1-2, Paul writes, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Good people sometimes lose their spiritual bearings, and they need “spiritual” people pulling them back in the right direction. Being in the church should mean that no one falls through the cracks. No one veers off the path unnoticed. No one has to carry a burden alone. Accountability means there’s always someone to challenge your thinking and behavior. You need a church.

You need a church for the stirring.

Faith is challenging, and it’s difficult for various reasons. Sometimes, the daily grind and stresses of life pile up, and things get overwhelming. If we’re not careful, that can challenge our faithfulness. Sometimes faith is hard because the fight to not conform to the world gets tough. Sin gets hard to resist. Satan just doesn’t take breaks. In a world with that kind of pressure, we need the church. We need a shot in the arm. We need the regular reprieve from the world. We need the time to unplug from the noise and re-center our minds on the eternal. Church has a way of stirring us. Maybe it’s in the songs we sing, or in the message, or in the conversations we have. It may even come just by way of seeing other people — other people in the same stage of life, fighting the same battles. Or maybe it’s people who are aging, or dealing with health issues or major setbacks, yet they still come to church. Seeing the faith of others has a way of bolstering our own faith. The writer of Hebrews seems to point to that:

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23–25).

You need a church.

You need it for the diet, for the accountability, and for the stirring.