WHY CHURCH? by Pastor Jay Nembhard
In 2014, when we were in Jamaica, after a heated discussion with my wife and eldest son, I realised something about me that I hadn’t seen in the longest while – my judgment was off. I have been wrong so many times, but this one was different. After much self-reflection, I realised that something was changing in me. It was like driving a car that was pulling to one side, like something was wrong with the steering – my alignment was off.
For three years, we functioned in a nation without much Fellowship infrastructure to help maintain a proper spiritual equilibrium. There were no Men’s Discipleship classes, revivals, conferences, victory rallies or Pioneer/Shepherds that could top up my spiritual life.
Granted, I was praying every day, reading my Bible, and watching online services and mp3 sermons, as much as I could. Nevertheless, I was more or less on my own. I had fellowship now and again with Pastor Jimmy Robinson. My only other spiritual connection was with another pastor from another fellowship, pioneering in Mandeville, the same city we were in. But that was all I had for spiritual company, as the church we were pioneering only had new converts, most of them saved for a year or so.
We only went to the South London conference every two years but that wasn’t enough. In prayer, it crossed my mind to look into attending the Conferences in Arizona. Sure enough, it was much cheaper for us than it was to go to London and so, my wife, Cheryl, and I, scraped up every penny we could to go once every six months.
What a difference this made! Sure, I could watch the same sermons online like I used to, but being physically there was a different experience, like night and day. Being amongst God’s people, worshipping God together, feeling the presence of God, hearing the word of God without distraction and being able to answer an altar call and communicate with the Holy Spirit made an incredible impact on us both. By Friday night, I felt I could take the whole of Jamaica for Jesus and more importantly, I felt spiritually recalibrated.
While I have always embraced the biblical command to attend the church service, that is, the gathering of the saints, it was this event that solidified to me the importance of being in God’s house. The truth is, you only really appreciate something when you go without and going without spiritual infrastructure and seeing the effects on my own life, I had come to appreciate the church in a whole new way, and this was after being saved for 21 years!
Recently, we have gone through a time we would never had thought possible, that is, not being able to gather together at the house of God. Who could have imagined? If you were to say to me last year that in 2020, we would not be meeting together in church but online, I would have said, “You’re crazy! Impossible!” And yet, here we are.
I guiltily admit, I kind of liked it. It was a good time to rest and relax and recharge my batteries, as I had been on the go nonstop for nearly 2½ years, since returning back from Jamaica. One pastor admitted to me that he was almost at the point of being burnt out and the lockdown saved his ministry. Another told me of the hobbies he was able to pursue and enjoy with his wife, something he could have never done before.
The few months of lockdown was a blessing in disguise for many but we must recognise that this isn’t normal life. It may have been a blessing, but the truth is that the longer it went on, it started to have an adverse effect on people’s spiritual lives. Some of us began to get complacent and lazy. The routine of daily devotion slowly began to erode. Faithful tuning into our online services gradually dissipated, as we said to ourselves, “It’s online, we can watch it later. Let’s go do other things and come back to it.” We lost contact with each other and we no longer knew how others in the body of Christ were doing. Out of sight, out of mind. We no longer included our brothers and sisters in our prayers like we used to, that is, if we were still praying.
The spiritual breakdown began to exacerbate issues we had in our marriages. With the flesh gaining more dominion, it led to more conflicts at home. With no accountability to our brethren, we started to break down even more. Our appetites for spiritual things began to wane, leading to increased apathy and complacency. The thing with complacency and apathy is that we can recognise it in us, but we haven’t got the motivation to do anything about it. We know our issues, but we can’t be bothered to do anything about them.
It is right here we see the necessity of the house of God, something we took for granted for years. The full impact of that truth hit me a few weeks ago when we had the entire praise and worship team come out for service, as opposed to the rota we had since we were able to go back to church. The dynamics of that service, the worship of the saints and just the vibe of people reacquainting themselves was like a blast of fresh air. Something that I once took for granted now felt special.
What seemed more real to me than ever was Psalm 122:1, which says, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” You would be amazed at how many spiritual issues can take care of itself just by being a part of church, as there are things that can only be done in church.
I have heard some people try to twist the scripture “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) To them, it means that they can be at Costa or in their home and it is the same as meeting together as the church. Nothing is so far from the truth. Going to Costa was simply to hang out, not to gather in His name. The fact that you all may be Christians may be incidental but that wasn’t the motive to go. Staying at home doesn’t mean you were gathered in His name, as that is your home. You live there and that is your main motive for being there.
Let us not forget that the word ‘church’ comes from the Greek word ‘ekklesia’, which originally meant “a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly” or “an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating”. Jesus took that word and made it Christian making it mean “an assembly of Christians gathered for worship.” So, staying at home does not constitute being called out and the truth is, using Matthew 18:20 is really twisting the scriptures.
So, why is going to church important? I will highlight five reasons:
The Necessity of Inconvenience
Convenience has never been a good way to serve God. If you are looking for a trouble-free, easy and suitable Christian experience, it is something that you will not value for long. Don’t be surprised that sooner or later, you will discard it. The things that mean the most to us are the things that have a cost to it, that many times are inconvenient.
In 2 Samuel 24:21-25, we read an account of David and Araunah, when the judgment of God was going through the land of Israel. “21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.” 22 Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” 24 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So, the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.”
David wouldn’t take the land for free. No doubt, there are some who would have thought, “This can only be the blessing of God, I will take it.” But David had insight, and he understood that anything worthwhile when serving God must carry a price.
The Arizona conferences were always a blessing for us, as we always came back home empowered but there was a cost, and financial was the least of it. We left home the Thursday before conference, taking a bus from Mandeville to Montego Bay. We stayed there the night to take an early flight the next morning to Texas and from there another flight to Phoenix. After the hassle of checking in, we had to fly for five or six hours to Texas where we had to go through immigration, which was always a nightmare. Then we had to wait a couple of hours for our connection and arrive at Phoenix at midnight, where in the summer it was 105F at night! We had to get a shuttle to the car rentals and then drive to the hotel and after a few hours’ sleep, drive to Tucson or Prescott.
Once we left Prescott Conference on Friday evening, after the announcements of new churches, drive to Phoenix where we slept for three or four hours to get a flight at 5am, only to arrive in Montego Bay around 5pm, and wait for our lift for another three hour journey to Mandeville, arriving around 8pm Saturday night, almost 24 hours later. Then I had to preach on Sunday morning. It was a brutal trip and I can recall once being in the departure area in Montego Bay, feeling stressed out, wondering why I have to put myself through this yet again. And the reason was the benefits of going but it certainly wasn’t convenient.
Getting out your house, having to get on a bus or fight your way through traffic is a small price to pay, nevertheless we are not making our Christianity convenient. And whether you realise it or not, you are subconsciously reinforcing its value.
The Preaching of the word of God
Going back to the word ‘ekklesia’, and the idea that it is people called out of their homes to hear a message from the king, there is something impactful of going to hear a message as opposed to just staying indoors to hear the message. There is something psychological and spiritual in actually stepping out to hear a message that has more of an impact than simply watching a service online.
As I said before, I had watched conferences online and I got the mp3s but there was something different about the same messages when preached live and direct. There is something about the combination of the presence of God established by worship and the saints gathering in the name of Jesus plus the anointed word of God preached in your presence that hits home with a greater impact. I guess it is like the difference between seeing a film on the big screen, as opposed to a mobile phone or seeing a program on 1080p in contrast to 240p.
Spiritual edification
As you look through the New Testament there are certain verses that can only be practised in a collective setting. For example, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another…” (Romans 12:10) “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us…” (Romans 15:7) “admonish one another” (Romans 15:14)
Consider as well that the gifts of the Holy Spirit can only be practised in the context of a collective setting. 1 Corinthians 12:28 says, “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.”
How will prophetic words and varieties of tongues help the isolated Christian, living away from the body of Christ? Granted, you can get a word of knowledge from a stranger in the street, but isn’t it more usual for that to happen in church? Not to mention getting a word, not just from anyone, but from someone known and respected and free from false doctrines and agendas?
1 Corinthians 12:7-10 says, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and it is only as a collective, working together, are we all built up using our individual gifts and talents.
Social Connections
There was a report done back in 2016 that pointed out that people who go to church regularly live longer than those who don’t. In a study done between 1992 and 2012, it showed that those who went to church more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of dying. For those who attended only once a week, it went down to 26% and for those who went less than once a week, it went down further to 13%. It showed that those who regularly went to church had higher rates of social supports and lower rates of depression.
It is that human connection that keeps us healthy and this is an unseen benefit being a member of a church. Isolation breaks us down. Not just our physical health, but also our mental health. How many have come to church depressed, stressed or weighed down with anxiety or worry, not even wanting to come in the first place but end up leaving with victory and joy? As human beings, we are social creatures and we do our best when we are connected to others.
Let me also add this. Youth is something we take for granted and one bad decision we make when we are younger is that we do not value the relationships we have created over the years. What I mean is that over the years, we neglect those relationships until we end up lonely people later on in life.
As we get older, not only do we drift in relationships but those we do keep in contact with end up dying at some point and those who are left alive, end up lonely people. Over the years, I have had encounters with elderly people and one thing that has struck me is how much they can talk. They will talk and keep on talking if you let them and the reason is because they have no one to talk to and so, when they do find someone, it is release.
Those who have gone to church all their lives don’t have that same problem (or shouldn’t). They have maintained connections with others over the years, including those younger than them, who will be looking out for them. While you are young and carefree, it doesn’t really matter but beware, if you disregard relationships now, you will regret that decision later in life.
We have all heard of elderly people being abused at care homes and the like. There is a reason for this, and it is because, many times, these elderly people don’t have anyone looking out for their interests. Their children are busy living their own lives and rarely see them and so others can mistreat them knowing that there is no one who cares enough to keep these ‘caregivers’ accountable. When you are a part of a church, when you are connected in relationships, society at large will know that you have those who care about your wellbeing and that makes a world of difference.
Connected to something bigger than yourself
Regardless of time and space, every human being in history has had an innate desire to belong to something bigger than him or herself. This is why football is such a global phenomenon, as people want to connect to a club or country in a way that brings personal empowerment. When I lived in Jamaica, I found it fascinating that there were so many Manchester City fans.
Consider that when I lived in Manchester between 1998 and 2002, in Moss Side, where Manchester City Football Club was based, there were very few Manchester City fans, as most of them came from out of town. Back then, they were down in the old third division and struggling, playing against teams like newly promoted Macclesfield, a far cry from the good old days. At outreach in Manchester City centre you could see Manchester United red jerseys everywhere, particularly after the treble-winning season in 1999 but hardly any of the blue jerseys of Manchester City.
What I am saying is that if in Manchester back then, City were struggling for supporters, how on earth did Jamaica have them everywhere in 2016? The reason is quite simple, and it is that City were bought by new owners, who invested heavily financially, and they became winners of the Premier League. These City supporters in Jamaica were connected to winners. Before we mock them, understand that this is the very essence of human nature. We want to be connected to winners and to something bigger than ourselves.
As Christians, we want to be connected to the ultimate winner – the church. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” We all want to be part of a movement going somewhere and that is what church is all about. Being part of something bigger is about finding God’s meaning and purpose for our lives, that our lives matter.
The outcome of that is that we feel better about ourselves, it improves our self-esteem, gives us a sense of empowerment and we get more out of life. Being a part of church helps us to see that there is a bigger world out there and that the possibilities of our lives being used in a meaningful way are endless.
When I first came to church, all of a sudden, I started to go to places in England that I had only seen on the map – Ipswich, Norwich, Liverpool, West Bromwich, Torquay. I began to hear about world evangelism and impacting different nations with the gospel. Then we had guest preachers coming from different parts of the world and it made me see, that while at the time our church was small, we had a global vision and that changed my perspective, not only of church but also of myself. Being a part of church changed my life and outlook.
Conclusion
These are just five of the many reasons why church is so important to the Christian. I could write a whole book on that (maybe I should) but the point is that being a church does so much for the believer than we think. For all the issues we may face in church from time to time, the benefits far outweigh the liabilities and as the people of God, we need to value our church because we are the main beneficiaries of it.