Why Do We Go to Church?
See also: Does God care if we go church? Why am I going to Sunday School?
How you might answer: People go to church for a lot of reasons, but some of the most common are: to give thanks to God for the many blessings in our lives, to give back to others, to be reminded of places that need our help, to be inspired in our daily lives, to learn more about Jesus' teachings, to listen for God's call in our lives, to enter into prayer with God, to sing and hear music that reminds us of God's transcendence, and to spend time with others who can both challenge us when we need it and comfort us when we need it too. We aren't "earning" anything by going to church, but we are trying to open ourselves up to be changed by God - whether that's by learning, or listening, or praying, or whatever else. I've always loved Karen Armstrong's description of religion as helping us "discover new capacities in our hearts and minds" - going to church should help us do exactly that.
What might be behind their question: While this question is most likely to be posed to you as you are trying to drag everyone out the door to church on a Sunday, there is an interesting idea behind it: if we believe that we can't earn our salvation and that God loves us no matter what, then what's the point of going to church? Why should we gather together and worship God when we could be having brunch, or going to soccer practice, or whatever million and one other things pop up in our lives? Why are we learning about the Bible in Sunday School if we already know the most important things? The response above - and the biblical response from Paul and others - is that we aren't doing it solely for our sake; we're doing it to give thanks and glory to God, and we're doing it to be a better neighbor to others as well.
How you might answer: People go to church for a lot of reasons, but some of the most common are: to give thanks to God for the many blessings in our lives, to give back to others, to be reminded of places that need our help, to be inspired in our daily lives, to learn more about Jesus' teachings, to listen for God's call in our lives, to enter into prayer with God, to sing and hear music that reminds us of God's transcendence, and to spend time with others who can both challenge us when we need it and comfort us when we need it too. We aren't "earning" anything by going to church, but we are trying to open ourselves up to be changed by God - whether that's by learning, or listening, or praying, or whatever else. I've always loved Karen Armstrong's description of religion as helping us "discover new capacities in our hearts and minds" - going to church should help us do exactly that.
What might be behind their question: While this question is most likely to be posed to you as you are trying to drag everyone out the door to church on a Sunday, there is an interesting idea behind it: if we believe that we can't earn our salvation and that God loves us no matter what, then what's the point of going to church? Why should we gather together and worship God when we could be having brunch, or going to soccer practice, or whatever million and one other things pop up in our lives? Why are we learning about the Bible in Sunday School if we already know the most important things? The response above - and the biblical response from Paul and others - is that we aren't doing it solely for our sake; we're doing it to give thanks and glory to God, and we're doing it to be a better neighbor to others as well.