Why should I go to church when I just don’t feel like it? Aren’t I just being a hypocrite? Why go if I feel like I won’t get anything out of it this week?
As a pastor, I find myself regularly helping people work through reasons why they should not give up gathering together with other believers (cf. Heb. 10:24-25). Quite often, my words of encouragement go down two paths. On the one hand, I remind believers that gathering for worship is fitting in keeping with the commands of God. Obedience calls you to discipline yourself to gather and worship. On the other hand, I will try to encourage believers that, even when they do not expect to personally gain from the service, they may be surprised. God often breaks through our stony hearts and enlivens our souls when we gather together with his people under his word for his glory. God has designed our worship in the church, not only to honor him—which is primary—but also to feed flagging souls and nourish hungry hearts.
Today, I want to ponder yet a third reason to gather that I do not often point to, but which is of great importance. It popped up in my daily Bible reading.
1 Corinthians 12:21-26
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
In context, Paul is challenging the Corinthians on the issue of spiritual gifts. Apparently, individuals in the church have begun to see themselves as having greater or lesser importance depending on the type of spiritual gifts and experiences they are having. One believer feels unimportant because his gifts are not spectacular. Others may feel they are of greater worth because God has, for a season, allowed them to experience the obviously miraculous.
The point in the passage I site above is that one’s level of giftedness or even neediness has nothing to do with one’s value in the church. As a body has many different parts, and we would not eagerly rid ourselves of any of our parts, so the church has many members, and we should realize that all members matter. Yes, some parts require extra care. That is true in the physical body and in the church as a body. But all members have worth.
How might this apply to your decision to attend worship when you are pondering letting this week’s gathering pass you by? Paul says in verse 22, “the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” Grab that word, “indispensable.” That is a big one. When a body part, even a weaker one, even one requiring special care or special modesty, is hurting or missing, it is a big deal. Paul also tells us in verse 26, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Clearly God intends togetherness for us whether we are suffering or rejoicing.
Perhaps, when you wonder if getting out for gathered worship is worth it, you might consider this reason: Your participation in gathered worship, even when your heart is heavy or distracted, is important to the good of all the others in the body. I’m not trying to give any of us an overly inflated ego. But the word of God is clear that the church needs all of its parts together. We need each other. Healthy and happy believers need to worship alongside hurting and struggling believers. The church needs people who are gracious enough to allow others to care for them in times of need. The church needs folks who will shed tears and sing the songs of sorrow that are as present in the Psalms as are the songs of celebration.
Why go to worship on Sunday? Obedience is a good reason. The fact that going might just encourage your soul is a solid reason. But when you are struggling, and when those reasons are not moving you forward, perhaps remembering that you are needed will help. When a believer is absent, the local church is the less for that absence. We are a body, and we need all our members together for our mutual good. So, dear believer, love others in the church well by being there with the body, even on days when being there is hard.
Pastor Travis Peterson 