T. Allen Burr Ministries

“I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” I’ve heard this said many times by well-meaning people of faith. To be honest, they’re right. The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9, NLT) Weekly church attendance is not listed here as being requisite for admittance into Christendom. To be Christian means to adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ and to doing the work He laid out before us. That said, Jesus is shown to have “attended” synagogue. He participated in the religious life of his community on a regular basis. He ministered in the synagogue; he attended the festivals; and he went to the temple. Part of Christ’s teaching is that we should take up our cross and follow after Him. To do that, we must model our spiritual lives after His, and He was part of a larger community of faith.

To give further credence to this claim, the author of the book of Hebrews says, “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Heb. 10:25, NLT) After Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, the believers left behind gathered together week in and week out to worship together and to remember the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. We are taught not to neglect the fellowship of believers but to encourage one another. Being Christian may not require church attendance, but following after Christ certainly does. Following the teachings of the Apostles and the teachings found in wider church tradition also necessitates being part of a community of believers. 

To put it another way, you can be a pastor without being part of a church; you can be a doctor without stepping foot in a medical facility; you can hold a driver’s license and never drive your car. Sure, you can do all of those things, but you miss out on fulfilling a crucial part of those roles. What is a pastor without a congregation to minister to? What is a doctor without patients to treat? What is a driver without a car? Being a Christian without a community is certainly possible, but in doing so, the believer misses out on a crucial aspect of Christian life. Christians are meant to experience faith in communion with one another. In community, we can be encouraged, challenged, emboldened, and instructed. Alone? Ecclesiastes 4:1 tells us that “a person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”