The word "church" often conjures images of stained glass, padded pews, and a Sunday service. And while the gathering of believers is undoubtedly central to the Christian experience, many have tried to replace the act of gathering with individual, isolated spirituality. They might say, "I can be spiritual on my own," or "I don't need to go to church to be the church."
While it is absolutely true that you are the church—a member of the body of Christ—it is a profound error to think that not going to church fulfills your calling to do church. The New Testament is clear: our faith is meant to be lived out together.
The Reasons We Stay Away
There are lots of Christians that say they don’t do church. They don’t do church for various reasons.
The Painful Past: Many people have had a bad experience with a church member or pastor, fell for a false teaching and got hurt.
The Hypocrisy Hurdle: They don’t see any difference between churchgoers and people who don’t go, or are not even believers. Church repulses them because they feel it’s full of hypocrites. Other people accept that people are hypocrites by nature; they just can’t stand churches talking about money.
The Isolation Argument: They think they can read the Bible and gain as much knowledge by themselves as if they went to church every week. They believe they can get all the Christian content they need from websites, podcasts, and books—even television and radio.
The Irrelevance or Guilt Factor: Even if they can get past those issues, still others steer clear because church is irrelevant to their everyday lives. Some may even want to attend church, but when they do, they feel even guiltier than they did before. The pastor and all the other put-together, perfect people just make them feel worse about themselves. They tried church before, and it didn’t make a difference. So why bother?
The "Super Spiritual" Standard: Finally, there are the “super spiritual.” Their ideals are so high that no church can possibly meet their standards. They have detailed lists of what’s wrong with each church in town. The worship music isn’t “Spirit-led” enough, or it’s too loud, too soft, or too whatever. The sermons are too shallow or too intellectual. The missions program isn’t aggressive enough or it’s all the church talks about. They spend too much money on the building or not enough.
These objections are real, and the pain behind them is understandable. However, our reliance cannot be on the perfect people or the flawless execution of a service; our faith must rest on God's clear instruction for His church. God never intended for his believers to be independent. He wants us dependent on one another and on him.
Here is why skipping the assembly in favor of solo spirituality is missing the core of what it means to "do church," and the scriptures that guide us.
1. The Command to Assemble (Even With Imperfect People)
The most direct call to "do church" by gathering is found in the letter to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
This instruction is given knowing the people gathering will be imperfect. The purpose is not to find a perfect church, but to "stir up" (challenge) and "encourage" one another. When you isolate yourself due to hypocrisy or past hurts, you deny others the chance to encourage you, and you deny yourself the opportunity to practice love and forgiveness. The individual is weakened, and the corporate body is diminished.
2. The Necessity of Corporate Worship and Teaching
"Church" is the place where the spiritual gifts are meant to operate for the good of all, where God's Word is systematically taught, and where we celebrate the sacraments/ordinances together. The early church modeled this perfectly.
Acts 2:42, ESV And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
"Doing church" involves devotion to these four things, teaching, breaking of bread, and prayers
We can get all the Christian content we need from websites, podcasts, and books—even television and radio. I don't have a big problem with Christian television, radio, and tape ministries, websites (I have one), but they are no substitute for regular attendance and involvement in worship services, ministry outreaches, and educational programs of a local church. The communal teaching provides a framework for growth, accountability, and depth that an individual study, by yourself, simply cannot offer.
While it is absolutely true that you are the church—a member of the body of Christ—it is a profound error to think that not going to church fulfills your calling to do church. The New Testament is clear: our faith is meant to be lived out together.
The Reasons We Stay Away
There are lots of Christians that say they don’t do church. They don’t do church for various reasons.
The Painful Past: Many people have had a bad experience with a church member or pastor, fell for a false teaching and got hurt.
The Hypocrisy Hurdle: They don’t see any difference between churchgoers and people who don’t go, or are not even believers. Church repulses them because they feel it’s full of hypocrites. Other people accept that people are hypocrites by nature; they just can’t stand churches talking about money.
The Isolation Argument: They think they can read the Bible and gain as much knowledge by themselves as if they went to church every week. They believe they can get all the Christian content they need from websites, podcasts, and books—even television and radio.
The Irrelevance or Guilt Factor: Even if they can get past those issues, still others steer clear because church is irrelevant to their everyday lives. Some may even want to attend church, but when they do, they feel even guiltier than they did before. The pastor and all the other put-together, perfect people just make them feel worse about themselves. They tried church before, and it didn’t make a difference. So why bother?
The "Super Spiritual" Standard: Finally, there are the “super spiritual.” Their ideals are so high that no church can possibly meet their standards. They have detailed lists of what’s wrong with each church in town. The worship music isn’t “Spirit-led” enough, or it’s too loud, too soft, or too whatever. The sermons are too shallow or too intellectual. The missions program isn’t aggressive enough or it’s all the church talks about. They spend too much money on the building or not enough.
These objections are real, and the pain behind them is understandable. However, our reliance cannot be on the perfect people or the flawless execution of a service; our faith must rest on God's clear instruction for His church. God never intended for his believers to be independent. He wants us dependent on one another and on him.
Here is why skipping the assembly in favor of solo spirituality is missing the core of what it means to "do church," and the scriptures that guide us.
1. The Command to Assemble (Even With Imperfect People)
The most direct call to "do church" by gathering is found in the letter to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
This instruction is given knowing the people gathering will be imperfect. The purpose is not to find a perfect church, but to "stir up" (challenge) and "encourage" one another. When you isolate yourself due to hypocrisy or past hurts, you deny others the chance to encourage you, and you deny yourself the opportunity to practice love and forgiveness. The individual is weakened, and the corporate body is diminished.
2. The Necessity of Corporate Worship and Teaching
"Church" is the place where the spiritual gifts are meant to operate for the good of all, where God's Word is systematically taught, and where we celebrate the sacraments/ordinances together. The early church modeled this perfectly.
Acts 2:42, ESV And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
"Doing church" involves devotion to these four things, teaching, breaking of bread, and prayers
We can get all the Christian content we need from websites, podcasts, and books—even television and radio. I don't have a big problem with Christian television, radio, and tape ministries, websites (I have one), but they are no substitute for regular attendance and involvement in worship services, ministry outreaches, and educational programs of a local church. The communal teaching provides a framework for growth, accountability, and depth that an individual study, by yourself, simply cannot offer.
3. The Picture of the Body (Why We Need Each Other)
The Church which is the Body of Christ is an organism, not a collection of independent individuals.
1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
A hand separated from the body is not just isolated; it's dead. You might have the spirit of the church, but the function of the church requires you to be connected to the other members.
1 Corinthians 12:14-26 ESV [14] For the body does not consist of one member but of many. [15] If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? [18] But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. [19] If all were a single member, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. [21] 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.” [22] On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23] 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, [24] which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, [25] that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. [26] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Your unique gift is meant to serve others in the gathering, and you miss out on the vital support and service of other members when you stay away. The "super spiritual" person needs to exercise their gifts in service to the "irrelevant" community, and the person feeling guilty needs the encouragement of the body.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 ESV [4] Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5] and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6] and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. [7] To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
4. Living Out Love and Accountability
Ultimately, "doing church" is about living out the Great Commandment to love one another in a visible, practical, and accountable way.
John 13:34-35 ESV [34] A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. [35] By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
This love is best learned and practiced within the imperfect, messy reality of a local church community. It’s where you are called to bear one another's burdens, offer forgiveness and submit to those God has placed in leadership positions over the local church community. These actions are impossible to do effectively in isolation.
Galatians 6:2 ESV Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Colossians 3:12-13 ESV [12] Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, [13] bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Hebrews 13:17 ESV Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
It is a powerful continuous process to maintain a strong foundation in faith and align our priorities with God's will. That process is deeply supported by being rooted in a local church.
Yes, you are the church every day of the week, in your job, and in your home. But the doing of church—the biblical, vibrant, corporate life—requires that you gather with the rest of the body. Do not miss out on the spiritual power, growth, and accountability that God designed the assembly to provide.
The Church which is the Body of Christ is an organism, not a collection of independent individuals.
1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
A hand separated from the body is not just isolated; it's dead. You might have the spirit of the church, but the function of the church requires you to be connected to the other members.
1 Corinthians 12:14-26 ESV [14] For the body does not consist of one member but of many. [15] If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? [18] But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. [19] If all were a single member, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. [21] 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.” [22] On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23] 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, [24] which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, [25] that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. [26] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Your unique gift is meant to serve others in the gathering, and you miss out on the vital support and service of other members when you stay away. The "super spiritual" person needs to exercise their gifts in service to the "irrelevant" community, and the person feeling guilty needs the encouragement of the body.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 ESV [4] Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5] and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6] and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. [7] To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
4. Living Out Love and Accountability
Ultimately, "doing church" is about living out the Great Commandment to love one another in a visible, practical, and accountable way.
John 13:34-35 ESV [34] A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. [35] By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
This love is best learned and practiced within the imperfect, messy reality of a local church community. It’s where you are called to bear one another's burdens, offer forgiveness and submit to those God has placed in leadership positions over the local church community. These actions are impossible to do effectively in isolation.
Galatians 6:2 ESV Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Colossians 3:12-13 ESV [12] Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, [13] bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Hebrews 13:17 ESV Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
It is a powerful continuous process to maintain a strong foundation in faith and align our priorities with God's will. That process is deeply supported by being rooted in a local church.
Yes, you are the church every day of the week, in your job, and in your home. But the doing of church—the biblical, vibrant, corporate life—requires that you gather with the rest of the body. Do not miss out on the spiritual power, growth, and accountability that God designed the assembly to provide.
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