Having grown up in the Church and Christian Culture something I’ve found to be extremely important is constantly evaluating why I do what I do in my spiritual life. Why do I pray? Why do I sing worship songs? Why do I go to church? Every so often I realize that I’m just going through the motions of Christian life and that passion has slowly turned to duty. So the question is - Why do we go to church?

When you look at the early church in the book of Acts you see that the church was focused on community (Acts 2:42). There was an excitement born out of the revelation of what Christ had done and believers came together to be taught further, to hang out, eat with each other, and just enjoy God. The sense of community was so strong that no one was in need, others were put in front of self, and God worked powerfully. The struggle in our busy lives today is to remember that being a part of church means being a part of a community of believers that are all headed in the same direction. Unfortunately there are times when that’s not the case and the reason for going to church on Sunday is based on obligation instead of passion. When this happens Church becomes nothing more than a tick on our Christian life checklist and we are happy when it’s out of the way so we can move on to the rest of the day.

If you feel obligated to go to Church or if going to Church on Sunday is nothing more than a check on your list of being a “good” Christian, then it’s time for a heart examination. How you view being a part of the local church can be a reflection of how you view your relationship with God. A dangerous prayer I prayed years ago was that God would never let me get so comfortable in my Christian walk that I become stagnant. I prayed this prayer at a time in my life where I was stagnant and realized that my Christian life was based on a checklist of activities that made me look good on the outside. On the inside I was about as in love with Jesus as I am with doing the dishes. God has held me to that prayer and every so often I get a little reminder that wakes me up and causes me to ask why I do what I do. When I ask that question I always come back to his amazing love for me and it stokes my passion and kills obligation.
Why do you go to church?

Verses to check out:
Acts 2:42-49
Acts 4:32-37
Hebrews 10:25
Romans 12:3-8