“Going to church” is one of the spiritual disciplines which forms us into Christlike people. As we meet with others, pray, engage in hospitality, encourage one another, and read God’s word together we are shaped into the people of God. James KA Smith in his article Alternative Liturgy: Social Media as Ritual, says that these kinds of rituals or liturgies shape our imaginations:

As we practice the discipline of gathering as a church, our imaginations are meant to be fashioned and fueled. We begin to long for a certain kind of world as we engage in worship. Hopefully we long for the alternate reality we call the rule of God, expressive of shalom which is about peace, justice, wholeness, reconciliation, mercy, and truth. Then as we envision it, we begin to practice living a life in that reality.

However, this ideal does not always manifest. In fact, I think “going to church” can sometimes become counter to this purpose of transforming God’s church into a people who embody shalom.

I often wonder whether the practice of “going to church” is shaping Christians into people who flesh out the practices and posture of shalom in our world, or whether the practice of going to church inhibits that purpose. I know this sounds like a contentious statement. We know the benefits of church attendance but could there be pitfalls and temptations in the practice of “going to church” which can draw us away from the mission of God?

Four Ways Church Attendance Can be a Stumbling Block for Mission

We feel as though “going to church” makes us good Christians

Christians have been enculturated to think that if we attend church regularly, we are obeying a well-established rule set out for us that we might become good Christians. This is potentially legalistic and can take the place of meaningful relationship with God. The temptation can be to think that if we “go to church,” we are then doing enough to be followers of Jesus. The focus here is primarily on attending church rather than engaging with God’s mission. Of course the two things should not necessarily cancel each other out.

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When “going to church” keeps us busy and therefore satisfied

Churches have many programs, events and weekly meetings which Christians are mostly expected to attend. Our culture places a high value on busyness so sometimes it can feel that if we are busy, we are living meaningful lives. This attitude has infiltrated the church. If we are busy then we are hard at work for God at ministry.

Sometimes however, church programs are more about keeping the internal machinery of the church going, that is, survival. When this happens and Christians get caught up in this busyness for the survival of the church, it hinders God’s mission. We might feel satisfied that we are doing “God’s work”, but it can in fact be shaping us to be inward oriented rather than missionally focused.

Church can foster a sense of dualism

We are very good at discerning the Spirit of God in our churches but we are more ambivalent about what it looks like to discern God’s Spirit in the world. How is God active in our neighborhoods? Where is God in our workplace? Is church ministry elevated above the call God has place on the lives of doctors, cleaners, architects and technology consultants for example? Going to church can sometimes foster a sense that we are moving into, and then out of, God’s presence when we leave the gatherings. This stops us from participating with God’s mission in our neighborhoods and society.

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Going to church can make us feel safe

Church can make us feel comfortable. On the one hand this is important for meeting together as Christians. We gather in order to practice the habits of an alternate world and we get a glimpse into the coming kingdom. That ought to fill us with hope, longing, and comfort. However, if we are not prepared as we gather to interact with a world that is broken and sinful, if we fail to see the brokenness and sin in the church, if we stop lamenting and crying out to God for a new universe, then we are being shaped into safe, comfortable Christians who will avoid the radical call to join with God on his mission.

We can turn into hearers not doers

When we attend church it can be a consumerist experience where we listen and receive doctrine. This fosters a passive stance. We evangelicals love our theology, worship songs, and doctrines however what produces transformation is taking action and putting into practice what we hear on the platforms of our churches.

We become witnesses to the gospel as we embody the gospel, not merely talk about it. In this way a watching world will point to us and say, “There is the gospel among those people. There is shalom. There is the reality of another kind of world.” An embodied apologetic is important in a world which is highly suspicious of the church today.

Am I saying that we should stop going to church? No. But I do believe that we could rethink what gathering as the people of God looks like, and the structure of our gatherings could reflect this. The practice and structure of church gatherings must not disable mission. The church is God’s light in the world and exists for the purpose of God’s mission, not for the sake of itself. When going to church becomes an end in itself, it frustrates mission.

When going to church becomes an end in itself, it frustrates mission. Share on X

We need to gather as the church to worship God together but worship is always about being formed by the Holy Spirit who sends us out to mission as we leave where we meet. That’s what makes the heartbeat of the church quicken as it is motivated by self sacrificing love, so that our world sees the attractive face of Christ in the people of God. As we practice the values of the reign of God, we are transformed into those who truly see and hear.

As Sarah Bessey says in Jesus Feminist

We’ll practice the ways of Jesus, over and over, until the scales fall from our eyes and our ears begin to hear.

As God’s people, this must be the purpose of our gatherings.