About church

[Gints]

Can you be a christian and not go to church?

 

[GeorgeJ]

Yup. It don't matter if your physically able to or not. Going to "church" doesn't get you any more points with God than not going....

 

[salt-n-light]

Yes, if you're not physically able to. But no excuse for any other time.

 

[Winken]

Yep. When did you confess Jesus as your Savior?

 

[HereIStand]

In theory, yes. In practice, it's difficult.

 

[inquiring mind]

I suppose... I’ve had my own lengthy intervals of not attending, but I never could understand why a Christian would not want to attend church at all, provided they’re able of course.

 

[salt-n-light]

Yup. It don't matter if your physically able to or not. Going to "church" doesn't get you any more points with God than not going....

Didn't know there was a point system :O

 

[Hidden In Him]

Yes, but while finding a good church in your area might not be all that easy, that doesn't mean you should simply stop trying to look for one or pray for one. Having real believers around to fellowship with and build yourselves up together in the Lord is a blessing you shouldn't miss out on.

 

[ViaCrucis]

From a traditional perspective the gathering together around Word and Sacrament--"going to church"--is a fundamentally central part of Christian life. It's often said that going to church doesn't make you a Christian than going to a garage makes you a car, and that's true enough; but it's also true that if you don't take your care to get check ups, to get your oil changed, that your car is likely to suffer and break down and perhaps even become undriveable.

The point of going to church isn't to gain brownie points with God, but to share and receive and enjoy the gifts of God where God has said He would actively work to do these things for us--that's why we gather to receive God's Word and Sacraments, because these are where and how God has promised to actively be present for and with us and to nourish our faith.

I'm as guilty as anyone else for skipping church, usually because I overslept, sometimes because it can be hard to motivate myself to get up, get dressed early on a Sunday morning--but the longer I go without it, the more I suffer for it. I need to hear the Word preached, I need the Eucharist, I need the prayers and hymns of the Liturgy. I don't want to go to church because somehow I'm doing something to get points from God, or because if I don't I am going to fear some sort of divine retribution--it isn't about rewards and punishments, it's about participating in the Christian life, which is something that happens when we are assembled, gathered, present together, in the name of Jesus, around God's Word and Sacraments.

This is why the language of "a personal relationship with Jesus" can be dangerous, not because the language of relationship is wrong, but by focusing it as something "personal" and individualistic; it ceases to be about what God does for us through His promises and grace, and instead becomes about what I do and instead of looking to the external things of God--His Word and His Sacraments--I instead try and look inside myself. And there is nothing particularly spiritual about myself, I'm a sinner, when I try and do the things I ought to do I fail--I don't love my neighbor as I should, I don't forgive seventy times seven, I don't always turn the other cheek; I get angry, I hold grudges, and I frequently act faithless. Which is why I can't look to me or trust in me, I must look outside of myself to something else, something faithful and true, something that is real, substantial, and which never fails.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[AfterThought]

I rarely ever go to church
But I do enjoy listening to local church sermons by watching them over the internet

 

[Ron Gurley]

OP: Q:" Can you be a "Christian" (TRUE Christ-follower?) and not go to "church"? (organized assembly?).

A: Yes...IF you define TERMS!

TRUE Christ-follower = born again from above, spiritually changed per John 3 as explained in Ephesians 3. BELIEVE...THEN...FOLLOW:
FOLLOW: Matthew 16: 24-27 (NASB) Jesus: Christ-following Is Spiritually Costly
Luke 14:25-33 (NASB) ....Discipleship Tested

The "CHURCH" ("The Living Church?") is the collective "Body" of BELIEVERS,
the members of the "Body of Christ"
who are permanently indwelt by
God the Holy Spirit at the time of their Salvation.
The "Head" and the "Corner Stone" is God the Son, the historical person of:
Jesus of Nazareth, The Christ, The Divine Messiah, The God-Man.
He is the "Bridegroom".
Revelations 22: 17 The (God the Holy) Spirit and the "bride" (CHURCH) say, "Come "
Its "building blocks" are the "Grace through Faith" good news which guides the estranged to become a saved BODY + SOUL + SPIRIT.

Ephesians 4: 2-6; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Revelation 22:16; Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16;
Matthew 21: 42-45

Act 20:28- “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which (God) the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the "church" of God which He purchased with His own blood.

the church....Greek 1577... ekklēsia...

1. in a Christian sense
2. an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting
   
3. a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order's sake
   
4. those who anywhere, in a city, village, constitute such a company and are united into one body
   
5. the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth
   
6. the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven