I recently read an article on 13 reasons people stopped attending church. Whereas I found some of the reasons silly, some were reasons that I could understand. Believe it or not, one reason was that they stopped giving out donuts at bible camp. That’s an extreme example of silly. Excluding the ridiculous, let’s look at some more understandable reasons and why they must be rethought.
1- My job requires working weekends, and I have stopped going or taking children.
Did you go regularly before your job prevented you from going to church? Was it important to you? Was it important to take your children? I could be wrong, but I assume the answer to all 3 of these questions is no. If you answered yes to all three questions, you would have found a way to go to church or to at least make sure your children are attending. I know most people don’t want to hear the truth; it’s easier to fall back on an excuse when something is not that important to your life and sadly you believe not that important for your children.
What were your reasons for attending church before your job, even if it wasn’t regularly? Did you feel something, or was it out of habit because your parents took you as a child? Something was taking you to church. The sad thing is that no matter your reason for going, it wasn’t the right reason. Jesus founded the Holy Catholic Church (the first and only true Christian church) for one reason:
For your salvation! Jesus came into the world for your salvation. He told you what to do and how to live your life. He told you the two greatest commandments. Matthew 22:36
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
If you believe in the first greatest commandment going to church is where to show God, you love him by witnessing the sacrifice of Jesus in the bread and wine and consuming it as the body and blood. Jesus said to do this in memory of him. This is the greatest way of showing God you love him. If you don’t believe in the Eucharist, then God has very little room in your heart, and the church has little meaning for you.
The second greatest commandment is also something you must exercise at church. It’s the best place to show God you love your neighbor by praying for them and asking God to bless them. It’s the place you can pray for that neighbor you know gossips, that neighbor that likes to show off their expensive material things, or that neighbor you know is having an affair. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself, ” he wasn’t talking about the people you like. He was talking about the people you find yourself judging. Is there any better place to pray for the people you judge than at church? It’s also the place these same people might be praying for you.
If you are using your job as an excuse not to go to church, you are showing God that you don’t love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind and that you can only judge your neighbor, not love them.
The remaining reasons will be continued in future post.
Reason #2- The people going to church are hypocrites.