Statistics tell us of a trend, fewer people going to church. The common phrase is, “ I’m not very religious, but I am spiritual”. Obviously, no one but the person speaking can know what that means. I personally have asked in order to clarify and the response equates to “I believe in God, but I don’t go to church”. This fits with an older trend that defensively claimed, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian”. I can relate to a large extent since I have often claimed “I don’t like religion, because Christianity is a relationship”, and “It was the religious people that put Jesus on the cross”. I have also stated, multiple times, a phrase I heard in Bible College, “Going to church no more makes you a Christian, than sleeping in a doghouse makes you a dog”. So, what’s the difference? In my little “o” pinion, the first 2 are people excusing themselves from not wanting or needing the hassle of church attendance. My 3 statements were to expose the reality that just going to church and NOT CHANGING is redundant.

Effective church bodies and services should enhance the spiritual growth of each attender. It should provide an enhanced experience of the presence of God, a mind shift, and recognition of the worldly thinking that may have permeated our subconscious soul by true worship and declaration of the Truth from God’s Word. All of which can, and should lead us to draw closer to Christ so we can become more like Him.

OK, that’s probably deeper into philosophy than what most of you were looking for. Practically speaking then, WE, that claim Christ as our Lord and attend church to draw closer to Him, should very practically SHOW WITH OUR LIVES AND FACES, CHURCH CHANGES ME. But if we go in and come out unchanged, we should accept the reality that the world, and even unbelievers, are justified in their analysis: “see, I don’t need to waste my time with church!”