Real Hope: Back to Basics - ChurchSample

Together

I agree with you. No, you don’t HAVE to go to church to be a Christian. Who am I to tell you how God’s power for salvation is at work in you? ‘There is freedom in Christ,’ we all shout.

For years, I treated church as optional. But then I was confronted by passages such as this little ripper. Without being explicit about the exact sort of gathering of believers in view, the writer to the Hebrews spurs us on to ‘not give up meeting together’. The thrust here is on encouraging each other to remain faithful to the One faithful to us, whether it’s a weekly church service or a regular, intentional meeting of Christians or whatever. There is a collective, united aspect to keeping the faith. Together. Isn’t that the church, at its best?

Perhaps you love Jesus but not so much the church that claims to also love Jesus. Whether at a denominational or individual level, your experiences in churches or Christian communities make you want to steer clear. Without trying to diminish your pain, frustrations, or hurts, let me gently spur you on to love and good deeds by considering anew the instructions here about what God’s church should be like.

None of us will get this church thing right, though, because none of us is perfect. But maybe we can all focus more on wanting to come together to encourage each other, rather than embracing reasons to pull away.

Written by BEN MCEACHEN

Want more? Check out the Real Hope Conversations Podcast and delve deeper into our conversation about the Church and who God has called us to be together as a community of believers. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.