Why Attending a Local Church is Important for Christians

As someone who did not start going to church on a regular basis until I was 19, I can tell you that attending church does matter.

It's not about the physical building-it's about being with other believers the way God instructed and intended. Like a lot of other activities in the Bible, the local church was designed to help you grow as a person, not limit you. With all of our technological advancements, a lot of people feel more isolated now than ever. It's possible to chat with people half-way across the world and not even know your next door neighbor's first name.

Though it's getting harder and harder to find, people still have a deep need for community and churches are still a source for that. Part of me is also thinking God knew exactly how distracting day-to-day life was eventually going to become for people. If you care about developing your relationship with God, with the exception of health reasons it shouldn't be a major deal to go where you can focus solely on that.

Attending a local church is different from observing a church service on-line or on television however. The important word there is "observe"-it's the same difference as watching a sport and participating in it yourself. I'm a camera operator for a televised ministry, and I can even tell the difference when I'm worshiping with the congregation and when I'm watching a camera monitor. Even with being in the same physical building and hearing the same information, it's not the same experience. I have a high respect for pastors who use the media and am honored to serve in a ministry that can reach people, but most pastors will tell you it is not a replacement for a local church in your area.

From a personal standpoint, I got saved when I was young-around 7-years-old at a Vacation Bible Study. I was still ignorant of a lot of things for a long time however because my family practically never went to church. In the 5 years I've been going on a consistent basis, I have honestly learned more about life than 12 years of high school and 4 years of college combined. Through attending church my husband and I have been able to break out of the poverty mentality we came from and have increasingly prospered in both our finances and relationships ever since we started. God has blessed us a lot, and I think it's because we're just willing to listen.

The act of attending church is not a salvation issue-only a relationship with Jesus can do that. It is however important to your growth as a Christian. I encourage you that if you're reading this from a decision-making standpoint, that it's in your interest for a lot of reasons to go. God is not looking for perfect people. He's looking for people who are willing to listen. If you let Him, God will lead you to a local church that will welcome you and be the community that you need in your life.