Expert: Thurman C. Petty, Jr. - 2/11/2010

Question
I have a friend who believes that she will somehow "not live" if she attends another church.  I have invited her to come with me to one Wednesday night service, and she said no because it would make her feel uncomfortable.  I have been trying to get her out of her comfort zone, i.e. her church, for years.  I was wondering if there are any verses in the Bible that talk about requirements for attending church, like you need to go to be a Christian.  Thank you so much and God bless.

Answer
Dear Ashley,

Thank you for your questions about the need to attend church.

While attending a church is not mandatory to be a Christian, yet it’s quite beneficial. In fact, a large percentage of those who don’t attend church—by their own choice—eventually fall away. Fellowship with like believers is vital to Christian fidelity and growth.

But you can’t make your friend go to church, and if you continually work on her it might eventually break your friendship. Pray about it and let the Lord lead you in this.

I live in a small town that doesn’t have a church of my denomination. I need to drive 22 miles to attend. With the pastor’s blessing, I began to hold prayer meetings in my house so that other members in this area could attend the mid-week service without having to drive so far. Our living room is full almost every Wednesday evening.

Perhaps you could begin a small Bible class in your home, and invite other friends to meet with you. When you have it going, invite the friend of which you speak. Going to your home would be less threatening than attending a church. Perhaps at some future time, after she gets acquainted with other church members, she’ll feel less intimidated about attending the church.

Here is a discussion I sent to another person some time ago about the need for church attendance.

The idea behind the church is shown by the example of Jesus and the apostles. Jesus said:

Mat 18:20  For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

God wants us to get together for the purpose of prayer and Christian fellowship.

Heb 10:25  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day [of Jesus Second Coming] approaching.

This is about as strong a command that the Bible presents for attendance at church. We go to church to (1) study the Bible together in a group setting, because when we do so, our minds open to other ideas that will help us to understand difficult passages; (2) Worship together—corporate worship brings unity between the church and God, and between individual members with each other.  Unity is one of the most important teachings of Christ; (3) We receive instruction that helps us to understand how to put into practice the teachings of Scripture; and, finally, (4) we have time, before services and afterward, to fellowship—talk and get better acquainted with—other members of the church.

If you don’t want to go to church, of course, you are free to stay away. But you will be missing a great blessing. However, it is important for you to find a church that believes the entire Bible, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, and teaches the Bible subjects as they appear in the Scriptures. Take the Bible Lessons on my web site and you’ll get what I mean.

The most important thing you can do for your friend is to pray for her. And get others in your church to pray for her as well. Prayer gives God a greater license to reach out to the one prayed for than He would have had otherwise.

(There’s a great war going on between Christ and Satan and we’re in the middle of it. God is often hampered in working for people because of Satan’s claim that they belong to him. When we pray for a person, God can use our prayer as proof that He has more authority in this case than Satan would otherwise agree to. This is a tremendously huge subject, and I recommend you read the book “The Great Controversy” on my web site, www.PettyPress.com.)

May God bless you as you pray for and encourage your friend.

Stay close to Jesus.

Thurman C. Petty, Jr.
PettyPress@gmail.com
www.PettyPress.com (20 e-books; 42 Bible Study Guides; more)