Why People Don’t Go to Church
I often make the comment that church today is different from back in the day. I
realize that times have changed, but there seems to be a huge gulf between then
and now. It seems to me that people’s mindset about church appears to have
drastically changed. It’s as if there has been a generation of people who lack
‘church knowledge,’ being void of knowledge about Christ.
I see a secularizing trend in our society that has crept into our local churches.
Somehow loyalty and faithfulness are becoming eroded. Church attendance is
partly a habit, and many attend out of the habit. Many people are growing up
without what I call ‘church memory,’ This means they have no background in or
basic knowledge of the Bible and the Christian faith. I have concluded that
regardless of how beautiful one’s church is, it does not necessarily constitute large
crowds coming and staying. Staying is the big question. Why don’t they stay? Is it
the building, the people, the preacher, church hurt, the organization, or a myriad of
other reasons?
When I was growing up church was the center of the community, and it meant
your social life as well as your religious life. Sunday was considered a holy day
(not a holiday day) and was observed by businesses. Streets were basically empty.
All the things we as a society have encountered the last couple of years with the
Pandemic and other medical uncertainties have caused an unprecedented number
of people to anchor down in their homes and stay there. They go to their jobs, to
the stores, but not to church.
I have family members who are churched by TV, book reading, or playing old
tapes of yester-year. I also see so many skilled and talented men and women of
God wasting away in an easy chair of comfort. What does that tell an observer of
our love for one another? Do we have the urgency to fellowship with other
believers? Let’s wake up, church! Now more than ever, let us recognize the
importance of worshiping the Lord together.
“Let us keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his
word. Let us see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out,
NOT AVOIDING WORSHIPING TOGETHER as some do but spurring each
other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. If we give up and turn our
backs on all we have learned, all we have been given, all the truth we now know,
we repudiate (renounce, deny) Christ's sacrifice and are left on our own to face the
Judgment - and a fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of
Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God's Son,
spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit?”
(Heb 10:23-29 Message Bible)
realize that times have changed, but there seems to be a huge gulf between then
and now. It seems to me that people’s mindset about church appears to have
drastically changed. It’s as if there has been a generation of people who lack
‘church knowledge,’ being void of knowledge about Christ.
I see a secularizing trend in our society that has crept into our local churches.
Somehow loyalty and faithfulness are becoming eroded. Church attendance is
partly a habit, and many attend out of the habit. Many people are growing up
without what I call ‘church memory,’ This means they have no background in or
basic knowledge of the Bible and the Christian faith. I have concluded that
regardless of how beautiful one’s church is, it does not necessarily constitute large
crowds coming and staying. Staying is the big question. Why don’t they stay? Is it
the building, the people, the preacher, church hurt, the organization, or a myriad of
other reasons?
When I was growing up church was the center of the community, and it meant
your social life as well as your religious life. Sunday was considered a holy day
(not a holiday day) and was observed by businesses. Streets were basically empty.
All the things we as a society have encountered the last couple of years with the
Pandemic and other medical uncertainties have caused an unprecedented number
of people to anchor down in their homes and stay there. They go to their jobs, to
the stores, but not to church.
I have family members who are churched by TV, book reading, or playing old
tapes of yester-year. I also see so many skilled and talented men and women of
God wasting away in an easy chair of comfort. What does that tell an observer of
our love for one another? Do we have the urgency to fellowship with other
believers? Let’s wake up, church! Now more than ever, let us recognize the
importance of worshiping the Lord together.
“Let us keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his
word. Let us see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out,
NOT AVOIDING WORSHIPING TOGETHER as some do but spurring each
other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. If we give up and turn our
backs on all we have learned, all we have been given, all the truth we now know,
we repudiate (renounce, deny) Christ's sacrifice and are left on our own to face the
Judgment - and a fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of
Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God's Son,
spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit?”
(Heb 10:23-29 Message Bible)