Can I Be a Christian and Not Attend Church?
Updated: Oct 6
This is a common question that gets asked. Maybe you grew up in church and walked away. Maybe you never really went but you'd call yourself a Christian. You believe in God, you try to be a good person, and you pray sometimes. Maybe you got hurt, or maybe life just got busy. For a number of reasons, I find so many people drifted from church. To be honest, I once was in that camp. If that's you - hear me out on this.
Living around so many families in Fort Mill, I see many people too busy for church. They are nice people but they are depriortizing church. They slowly drift away as their attendance regularity dwindles. Even worse, their kids are in danger of growing up outside the church and they are much less likely to ever follow Christ. My heart goes out too them and I so want you and all who read this to hear me nudging you to reprioritize the value of joining a local church.
Here's the quick answer to the question: the Bible doesn't really imagine the normal Christian life outside the context of a local church.
If that's the case, then we we should ask ourselves some hard questions. I don't want any of this to sound preachy or judgmental. I've seen my share of churches that make me shake my head. But, Jesus promised to build his church. He hasn't given up on it, nor should we.
The Bible assumes that people belong to a community of Christ followers. In fact, Paul in 1 Corinthians says "you are a temple of the Holy Spirit." But, what you can't see is that in the Greek "you" is second person plural. It's better translated as "y'all." He is saying that "y'all" form a temple for the Holy Spirit.
There's more evidence than this single verse but I wanted to call out an example of Paul assuming that Believers would live as a community where the Holy Spirit dwells among them.
You need it more than you know
We live in an individualistic age. It's hard to see because it's like a fish understanding that it's in water. Individualism is the air we breath, but we don't think much about it.
Over the past several decades, Christianity has emphasized having a personal relationship with God. This is true but the Bible understands both a communal and individual relationship with God. You shouldn't gravitate toward either extreme but possess both.
In our age, we don't trust authority, community is messy, and it's easier to remain uncommitted and free. I completely understand. I feel that tension too. And, I've seen how people have been hurt by the church or been through awkward church experiences. However, none of that lets us off the hook. We need Christian community, but we also are supposed to offer it to others. We all have a role to play within God's family.
You have a role in God's family
The New Testament sees the church as a community that forms a body or a house. There are a few metaphors that are used but the point is that we are connected to other Believers. In the book of Acts, believers were gathering, eating together, praying together, sharing what they had, and earning from one another.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." - Acts 2:42
Paul's letters are almost entirely written to churches. He wrote to real, messy, and imperfect people who were trying to follow Jesus together. He described them as a body. One body, with many parts.
Some of those churches got dysfunctional. The Corinthian church is a good example of things gone awry. Do you know what Paul did to help keep that church together? He reminded them of what true love looks like. When he wrote 1 Corinthians 13, it wasn't so we could read it at weddings. He was showing a church how to move forward and heal. If they couldn't learn to love and to forgive, there is no chance they would survive.
The Bible specifically commands that we gather as a church
There's one passage in the New Testament that speaks most directly to this question:
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching." — Hebrews 10:24–25
This Bible verse is a clear reminder that we are not to opt-out of gathering with other Believers. This wasn't written to people who were lazy about church attendance. It was written to people under pressure and tempted to drift away from community because it was costly or difficult. Yet, the writer warns against this. The gathering matters. It's where you encourage others and get encouraged yourself.
Notice what "meeting together" is not for checking a box or earning God's approval. It's for the benefit of one another. Christians spur one another toward love and good deeds. Christians are called to carry out a number of duties to one another, such as bearing one another's burdens, encouraging one another, admonishing one another. There are a number of commands in the like this in the Bible that cannot be fulfilled outside a gathered community of believers.
It's also for your own benefit to gather with a local church. It's for your spiritual protection. The Bible describes Satan as a roaring lion seeking to devour Christians (1 Peter 5:8). How do many predators, like lions, catch their prey? They isolate one of the their prey from the pack and then go after it. Being in community with Christians helps provide protection against Satan who seeks to separate Christians from the flock of God.
What we all miss when we fail to gather
Here's the part that often gets overlooked: it's not only about what you receive from community. It's about what you bring to it. Scripture is clear that every believer has been given gifts to serve, encourage, teach, give, lead, and care for others.
When you're absent from a local church community, your gifts aren't exercised. Someone who needed your encouragement didn't get it. Someone who needed your perspective in a conversation didn't hear it. The body functions with you and without you, but it functions differently when you are not present. Your presence matters more than you realize.
A few years ago, I met a woman who was asking "what purpose does God have for my life?" I told her to keep coming and participating in the life of the church and I believed she'd find it. Over time, I watched and noticed how she was really good at greeting and speaking to the people that most others overlooked or didn't see. She found the middle aged man sitting in the corner and so many other instances like that. One day, I pionted out how God was using her all the time and she likely didn't know it, but I saw it happening. Just like that woman, you too have a place where you belong and will find purpose among God's people.
It's more than simply going to church
Christians don't really "go to church" the way you go to a movie. In the New Testament, you don't go to church - you are the church. The word in Greek, ekklesia, means "the called-out assembly." It's people, not a place.
The question isn't really "do I have to go to church?" The better question might be: "Am I gathering with other believers and growing in community? This isn't the place to argue what defines a church, but you need to be participating in something more formal and regular than a Bible study or informal gathering. Theologians help provide a Biblical framework for what formalizes a church. That way, it doesn't become a rogue group that doesn't fulfill some of what God intended for his Church.
When it comes to church, you're not just attending an event. You're functioning as part of something. You are part of a community that is meant to embody Jesus in a specific local place, for specific people.
Have you found a good church?
If you are still looking for a church and haven't found one, don't give up. Keep looking. I know it can be hard, but it's worth it when you find it. Pray that God will lead you. I've written elsewhere on how to find a good local church. You can look there for some helpful guidance.
Don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge a church by its website. Just show up somewhere. You may think you need a big church or a small church or a church that has a women's Bible study. But, what you really need is to find good people who love Jesus and will walk alongside you in the faith journey.
Sometimes giving a church a chance leads to something you didn't expect. Sometimes the small church without many programs has a couple good people who wind up loving and connecting with you deeply. They pray for you and study God's word with you. That's all you need. But, you won't find it until you give places a chance. Give a descent church a second visit - it my be even better the next time.
Summary
Can you be a Christian and not attend church? Yes, but as I've written elsewhere, there's a danger in that. You don't have a local healthy church that affirms your testimony. That's important because we can claim to be a good singer, but it's really self-authenticating until other confirm it. Some bad singers never know how bad they are at singing. Some non-Christians never know they aren't really Christians. You need a local church to affirm your faith.
But the Christian life as the Bible describes it, doesn't work very well in isolation. To be growing in faith, using your gifts, encouraging others, and being encouraged that happens in community.
You were made for more than solo faith. And there's a community somewhere that needs exactly what you bring. God knows it. You just need to keep seeking and allow him to lead.
