Six Reasons not to go to Church by Brett Hickey, sermon #1083 2 of 5
Six Reasons not to go to Church
A gospel tract distributor offers a little tract entitled “Reasons Not to Go to Church.” What do
you think are some of the reasons listed on the inside of the tract? Actually, when you open this
tract you see that it is blank inside. The point of the tract is obvious, if not a bit oversimplified:
there are NO good reasons not to go to church.
Many of the reasons people give for not attending church are frivolous and better referred to as
excuses than as reasons. A gospel song titled “Excuses,” illustrates this well:
Excuses, excuses, you'll hear them every day.
And the Devil he'll supply them, if from church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
In the summer it's too hot. And, in the winter, it's too cold.
In the spring time when the weather's just right, you find some place else to go.
Well, it's up to the mountains or down to the beach or to visit some old friend.
Or, to just stay home and kinda relax and hope that some of the kin folks will start dropping in.
Well, the church benches are too hard. And, that choir sings way too loud.
Boy, you know how nervous you get when you're sitting in a great big crowd.
The doctor told you, "Now, you better watch them crowds. They'll set you back."
But, you go to that old ball game because you say "it helps you to relax."
Well, a headache Sunday morning and a backache Sunday night.
But by work time Monday morning, you're feeling quite alright.
While one of the children has a cold, "Pneumonia, do you suppose?"
Why the whole family had to stay home, just to blow that poor kid's nose.
Well, the preacher he's too young. And, maybe he's too old.
The sermons they're not hard enough. And, maybe they're too bold.
His voice is much too quiet-like. Sometimes he gets too loud.
He needs to have more dignity. Or, else he's way too proud.
Well, the sermons they're too long. And, maybe they're too short.
He ought to preach the word with dignity instead of "stomp and snort."
Well, that preacher we've got must be "the world's most stuck up man."
Well, one of the lady's told me the other day, "Well, he didn't even shake my hand."
Excuses, excuses, you'll hear them every day.
And the Devil he'll supply them if the church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses.
The lyrics to that song, on the one hand, are humorous, but, on the other hand, if God really does
expect us to attend church services, that takes some of the fun out of the song.
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A May 12, 2015, Los Angeles Times article by David Lauter and Hailey Branson-Potts titled, “U.S. has become notably less Christian, major study finds,” points to a downward trend in faith.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-us-religion-20150512-story.html#page=1
“Nationwide, just short of a quarter of Americans describe themselves as agnostic, atheist or simply “nothing in particular,” up from roughly 1 in 6 in 2007, according to the new study. The ranks of the “nones,” as the study labels them, have grown in large part from people abandoning the religions in which they were raised.
That trend toward more secularism is particularly strong in the West, where “unaffiliated” is now the single largest religious grouping, at 28%... The South remains the most heavily Christian part of the nation….
Of course, this translates into reduced church attendance. The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion published a study in 2005 reporting that just 22% of Americans attend services weekly. 2003 Gallup poll reported 41%. Meanwhile, reported church attendance in Nigeria and Ireland is twice that of the U.S. Poland, Slovakia and South America are among the list of countries with a higher weekly church attendance than the United States (http://ns.umich.edu/index.html?Releases/1997/Dec97/chr121097a).
What about you? Will you be going to church today? If not, why not? No doubt, some of you will not be going to church, and you have your reasons. Some of you have not gone for years; some of you have never gone. How does God feel about that? Can we know what God thinks? While the Scriptures teach that the church is extremely important (Matt. 16:18; I Peter 3:15; Eph.5) and that church attendance is a practical way God has asked us to show our love for the body of Christ (Heb. 10:24-25), there are some legitimate reasons for not attending a particular congregation.
When a church abandons its Divinely-assigned role as the body of Christ to become a social club with a Christian veneer, it no longer is justified in existing. The Scriptures certainly describe the fellowship, association and camaraderie that should exist within the body. We read in Acts 2:46, for example, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart…” But, when social activity trumps or even supplants the fundamental reasons for the existence of the church, it is time to leave. We find in Acts 2:42, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” These elements must all be central to the church—preaching the gospel, baptizing the receptive hearts, worshipping regularly without diminishing the priorities of the apostles’ doctrine, the Lord’s Supper and prayer. Whenever a church gets so wound up with social issues that they cannot find time to observe the Lord’s Supper weekly as did the early church (Acts 20:7), it has lost its way. Whenever a church abandons its Divinely-assigned role as the body of Christ to become a comedy club, it is time to move on to another church. There is certainly nothing wrong with humor and laughter. David writes in Psalm 2:4, “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh…”
Solomon adds in Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” However, when there are so many jokes and funny stories glutting a sermon that Scripture has to play a supporting role, we need not attend such a church.
The imperative Paul issued to the young evangelist in 2 Timothy 4:2 still applies today, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” The apostle wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” We have so much to learn, so many areas to grow and so little time. We need to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matt. 5:6) when we head for church and have confidence that when we arrive we will be fed with the milk and meat of the word and not with the nutritionless husks that eartickling teachers provide.
Whenever a church abandons its Divinely-assigned role as the body of Christ and becomes a fashion show, we are wasting our time. In I Timothy 2:8-10, the Holy Spirit teaches, “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.” These scriptures apply to the Christian wherever he goes, but the dedicated Bible student will be particularly turned off when he witnesses extremes in dress when he goes to worship his God.
Obviously, when “women adorn themselves In modest apparel, with propriety and moderation” and as “women professing godliness,” they will not be dressing provocatively or, as might be more appropriately put, as undressing. Neither, though, will their focus be on wearing the most extravagant and most expensive outfit in the assembly. This principle was so important that the Holy Spirit had Peter caution in 1 Peter 3:3-4, “Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” Whenever a church has lost sight of the fact that God expects our focus to be on our spirituality, they cut the heart right out of Christianity. 1Pe 2:2 “…, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,…”
Whenever a church abandons its Divinely-assigned role as the body of Christ to become a big business, it is time to move on down the road. God certainly expects us to be generous and the contribution is a scriptural part of the Lord’s Day worship service (1 Cor. 16:2; Acts 2:42). Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” But, unfortunately, many churches have become big business. You really have to watch your wallet when you walk into many churches. It seems to be all about your money. Multiple offerings in every service have become the norm in many churches. There’s always some new building project. Heart and soul religion has been replaced with brick and mortar religion. Too many churches have contracted the tower of Babel syndrome when their focus should be on the Great Commission and the care of genuinely needy saints. Business owners sometimes choose a church to reap financially, not spiritually. No wonder you don’t want to go to churches where these departures from God’s word are apparent. Whenever a church abandons its Divinely-assigned role as the body of Christ to focus on recreation and entertainment, it has lost its way. A church can only glorify God when it maintains the conviction voiced in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Too many churches act as if they are ashamed of the simple gospel, behaving like the gospel is powerless without entertainment and recreation. The Holy Spirit speaks of the blood of Christ as being precious in I Peter 1:19, but some churches are ashamed of it. They would rather put the spotlight on some human talent. The Spirit adds in I John 1:7 that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, but some churches prefer to sweep the blood under the rug and emphasize instead their beautiful recreational facilities.
Willow Creek executive pastor Greg Hawkins exposes the failings of his own program-laden, trend-setting, mega church in the book Reveal: Where Are You? He quotes Bill Hybels, the founder of Willow Creek, who admits:
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually—when the data actually came back it wasn't helping people that much…Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn't put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for." Hybels adds: "We made a mistake. What we should have done when people…became Christians, we should have started…teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become 'self feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
Anytime Christ is not at the center of a church, it has abandoned its reason for existence. We learn in I Corinthians 1:18, 21-25, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Whenever false doctrine is taught and tolerated, a church forfeits the favor of God. Paul stressed the absolute necessity of “sound doctrine” in 2 Timothy 4:3 and Titus 2:1. The apostle Peter added in I Timothy 3:15, “I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” A church that cannot back up a claim to support and promote the truth might as well close its doors. We have focused this morning on Six Reasons Not to Go to Church. This list, of course, is not exhaustive. A clarification is needed at this point. While the above reasons are reasons not to go to a particular church, they do not justify rejecting all churches. If you are not going to church at all, you need to realize that you are falling short of God’s expectations. There are congregations that do not demonstrate the errors we have noticed today. A list of these churches, including churches in your area, will be listed at this end of this program.