We should live in community with believers

“Pastor, I don’t get anything out of church. I can worship God just fine by myself. Why do I need to get together with a bunch of people I don’t know or like?”

That’s a common objection. It gets stated differently here and there, but this is the gist of it.

The farmer can feel close to God while he’s driving his tractor through a field at sunrise. The single person can sleep till noon on a Sunday and think nice thoughts about Jesus once they roll out of bed.

The obvious answer to this is, “Amen!”

Nobody’s saying it’s impossible to genuinely worship the Lord at home or at work. In fact, that’s a biblical requirement. Deuteronomy 6, for instance, has families discussing the Lord’s commandments with each other as a routine feature of daily life. Romans 12 indicates that all of life, for the believer, should be an act of worship.

“I can worship God by myself.”

Amen. And so you must.

The same Bible that highlights this responsibility, though, also tells us to get together frequently as believers and worship together. We should not forsake this time of assembly.

It isn’t that there is something deficient in your personal worship. It’s that corporate, “together” worship, is also important. The Bible repeatedly calls the church “the body of Christ.” The body of Christ is important.

You say you get nothing out of attending. There are a couple of possible reasons for this. Maybe you don’t know God as well as you think you do, and so the things of God seem foreign and strange to you. Or, maybe there really is something deficient in that local congregation — something that keeps it from ministering to you.

Let’s imagine it’s the latter. You’re a mature, growing believer and the congregation is, well, not so much. That really does happen.

How is this group ever going to be challenged to do any better if all the spiritually healthy ones abandon it? Maybe it’s time for you to view your church as a mission field. If you’re far enough ahead of them to have recognized all the flaws, then you’re far enough ahead to serve them by being there and sharing your own gifts and wisdom.

Why does this have to be about whether you leave feeling satisfied, as you would leave a great restaurant? Why can’t it be about seizing the opportunity to urge your brothers and sisters to greater things? Service is the only path to greatness in the kingdom, after all.

A lot of space in the New Testament is taken up with what we call the “one another” passages. These are the texts that show us how we should live in community with believers. Forgive one another; be patient with one another; share with one another; bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. You can’t do this from your horse’s saddle or from your couch. You have to be there to run into their lives and allow them into yours.

Even with what I’ve said above, there often comes a time when you have to get out. There are legitimate reasons to abandon a local church. I’ll address this next time.

Gordan Runyan is pastor of Tucumcari’s Immanuel Baptist Church and author of “Radical Moses: The Amazing Civil Freedom Built into Ancient Israel.” Contact him at:

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