When Church is the Last Place You Want to Be

Sometimes I don’t feel like going to church. You’ve probably felt the same at one point. You might be tired from working all week, or have too many things to do around the house. You might have a slight headache, or just want to be outside on a pleasant day. You’re not alone. Most of us have been there. Sometimes church is the last place you want to be on Sunday morning. 

But I believe God wants us to come to church, His house, to worship in fellowship with other believers. 

In the Pastors.com blog “Two Good Reasons to Attend Church This Weekend,” author and pastor Brandon Cox writes that Christians once attended church because they either felt a sense of loyalty to the institution or they were drawn to the power of the event. Today, our motivations for attending church have changed, and that is okay. 

Cox writes that people should attend church for two reasons today:

“First, for believers, maybe we should attend worship services because of what worship services really are – an assembly of God’s people for the purpose of praising King Jesus, showing love and practical service to each other, and hearing truth from the Bible that we can live out the rest of the week. That isn’t all, of course, but that’s core. To put it more simply… we who follow Jesus should attend… for Jesus, for others, and for ourselves.”

“And the second reason, particularly for nonbelievers, is that the church is good for you. I’m not talking about the production quality. I’m talking about the fact that we serve a good God who inspired a good word and gave his good Son to give us his good grace and carry us into a good eternity! He gives us a good mission to change the world with the good, good news!”

Churches can be a place for believers and nonbelievers alike. As Cox writes: 

“What would happen if the church was the one place on earth every nonbeliever could go to investigate what Christianity is all about and, once they arrived, they experienced such family-like acceptance and overwhelming grace and love that they couldn’t help but give Jesus another hearing next weekend?”

Maybe it would be easier to attend church if we stopped going for ourselves. You’re not supposed to get anything out of church. You are called to give. 

Crosswalk.com contributing writer Debbie McDaniel writes in “Thoughts for When You Really Don’t Feel Like Going to Church,” “So often we get to thinking about what church can do for us. Whether we like the worship style, or the preacher, or whether enough people go there that we even know. And maybe even unintentionally, we focus on what we'll get out of it on any particular Sunday, or whether it's really worth going or not.

“But we forget... that often being there is an act of worship. Just showing up sometimes may seem tough, but if we can press through, our presence there might directly encourage another hurting soul. Breathing life their way. Reminding them that God sees. And cares.”'

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20

Carrie Dedrick is an editor of Crosswalk.com. When she is not writing or editing, she can usually be found teaching dance classes, running marathons, or reading with at least one adopted dog on her lap. 

Publication date: July 1, 2016