Should you attend Church?
Simple question with profound implications.
Approximately 58% of self-designated Evangelical Protestants attend once per week. The reasons why they attend are (1) to become closer to God–81%, (2) so their children will have a moral foundation–69%, or (3) to make them a better person–68%. Fascinating.
What’s going on with the over 42% that don’t attend? Their reasons provided are (1) they practice their faith in other ways–37%, (2) they don’t consider themselves believers–28%, or (3) they haven’t found a church they like–23%. Interesting.
When we put all this in real numbers, it gets real(ly) interesting. According to Pew Research, America–with 327.2 million people–is made up of ~25.4% (83.12 million) self-designated Evangelical Protestants (there are actually 46.6% self-designated total protestants, but to keep the category the same as in the first two paragraphs we’re only using Evangelical Protestants here). If we break down the 42% further, we find that 30% attend a few times per year and 12% never or seldom attend. For the sake of argument let’s keep the 42% combined. Thus, if you take the ~42% that don’t attend Church, you’re looking at 34.91 million Evangelical Protestants not attending Church each week. That’s 34.91 MILLION! And, 37% (or 12.92 million) don’t attend because they practice their faith in other ways (or they don’t practice it at all). I repeat, almost 13 million Evangelical Protestants aren’t attending Church because they find other ways to practice their faith (or they don’t practice it at all).
Why is this so?
To be sure, there are many reasons, but I believe that they simply don’t understand the PURPOSE of the Church, they don’t accept the FUNCTION of the Church, and most significantly, they have never truly experienced the ESSENCE of the Church.
What is the ESSENCE of the Church? It is…
- A place for you to BELONG—there is a seat at the table.
- A CAUSE to die for–eternal values motivating present activities.
- A COMMUNITY that accepts and edifies you–a culture of being fully known and fully loved.
- A proper placement within your FIT—investing your God-given spiritual gift(s).
Next time, we’ll explore each of these four components, as we explore the ESSENCE of the Church; and hopefully provide the affirmative answer to the question, SHOULD YOU ATTEND CHURCH?
— March 22, 2019