Sharing the Good News – Christian Community Church

WHY I DON’T GO TO CHURCH
by Greg Jolley -  Christian Community Church

For years I’ve listened to friends, relatives and acquaintances talk about why they don’t go to church.  The reasons often seem to be well ingrained and follow along lines of either “being too busy” or “I’m a good person so why do I need to attend church?” And my favorite is, “I am not living a good enough life to attend church but plan to change all of that and then I’ll go.”

As human beings I believe we all have tendencies or thoughts over the years that become ingrained.  As we get older we tend to become less likely to look at why we believe a certain way. Yet age isn’t an excuse for not examining some of our belief systems.

In looking at the first reason of “being too busy,” to attend church, most of us would agree that busy-ness is a reality that affects our lives.  Whether it’s attending church or participating in other activities and events, we go through periods in our lives doing our daily routine, with no room for change or adjustment.  Then suddenly, something comes along, making us realize that a change is necessary, that making an adjustment in our thinking and beliefs is worth the effort.  And guess what? We can actually have the desire to make a change! 

The second reason I commonly hear for not attending church is, “I’m a good person and God knows it so I don’t have to attend church.”   Here again, our ingrained thoughts and habits shut out our ability to understand certain things.  As believing Christians, we know that on our own we’re in fact not a good enough person, but only by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ are we made good in our Father’s eyes.  Also, when we’re not attending church, we miss opportunities to hear God’s Word and rub elbows with other believers.  Believers, who to our surprise, struggle with some of the same issues that we do and whose understanding and support we receive is wonderful.  When we hear God’s Word we’re reminded of the many ways we don’t measure up as well as our thoughts not being the best.  This isn’t intended to make us feel guilty, but to show us how to allow God to become a bigger part of our life.  He’ll give us the wisdom, strength and desire to make changes as we allow Him to.

The third reason I’ve so often heard for not attending church is, “I am not living a good enough life to attend church.”  The fact is, if we had to be perfect, churches would be empty!  How many times have we heard or felt that we could change things on our own, only to see the same continued pattern of desires and deeds in our own life that bring heartbreak to ourselves and to others?  Sometimes it’s as if we want that temptation to remain in our lives and not go away…  Sadly, it’s often that we have to be at rock bottom before we consider serious change.

As we allow God to come into our hearts and work in us, we then see things more from His viewpoint and understand increasingly why as our Maker, only He knows what’s best for us.  As we start to trust in Him, He rewards us with a little more faith and understanding of what He wants us to be.  He alone is the One who fully understands our situation or circumstances.  Believe it or not, He understands our situation even better than we do.  Remember, He has been dealing with mankind and our issues since He created us.  It’s nothing new for us to stay away from Him and do things our way….Do we REALLY have all the answers?  Please find a church and begin the wonderful journey of getting to know Him and allowing Him to work in your life as only He can do!

(Christian Community Church services are held at the Falcon Ridge Hotel- 1030 W. Pioneer Blvd in the Sunset Mesa Room. Sunday School begins at 9:30 a.m.  Sunday Worship Service is at 10:45 a.m.)