As I was driving to church last week, this question came to my mind; “Why do we go to church?” So, I started thinking of all the reasons we go to church: To hear good preaching, to learn, to praise and worship God, to give an offering, to pray, to serve, to encourage others, to get forgiveness, to get saved, to be delivered from sin and for the fellowship. Also, it has been commanded of us, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25 NLT). We’re supposed to go to church. We know that the pandemic has given most churches the option for their people to “attend” online and many have been doing that. There are situations where that is a very good thing but I’m hearing that many are choosing the online option when they really could attend in person.
So, getting back to why we go to church. As I went over and thought about my list, I realized something important: Of all the reasons I could think of as to why we go to church, I realized that all of them could be done without going into a building with other people…except one. We don’t have to go to the building to pray, to give, to worship, to encourage others, to serve, etc. We can do those things, really, anywhere. But the one thing we cannot do without “assembling together” is fellowship. We can do all those other things online or in other places but, without getting together physically, we cannot experience the true joy of fellowship. Watching church online doesn’t give us the opportunity to talk, share stories, shake hands or hug, (if allowed), pray for someone or just say hello with a real smile.
I look forward to going to church much more than I do watching church. I’m glad for the opportunity to come to church with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Enjoy all it has to offer, especially the fellowship.
