21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”- John 4:21-24
I believe this is another one of those misapplied or misused texts in the Bible. This is the text that comes to mind when people say, ‘I don’t have to go to church to worship God. I can worship Him at home or anywhere.’ This is true. The problem comes in when Christians use it as an excuse not to go to church. To miss out on going to church is to miss out on a blessing. People who often say such things know that worshipping God is the farthest thing on their mind when they are not at church. Forgive me, but I don’t see people praising God for their car while they are busy washing it or their yard while they’re cutting it. I doubt they thank God for the beautiful earth while they are putting on the back nine or praise Him for the hole-in-one.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying one must be in church every time the doors are open. There are times when a person must miss. They may be out of town, ill, tending a sick child, or have some other reason. This is directed towards people who habitually miss and who use that scripture as a loophole for not going to church when the real reason they miss has more to do with a desire not to be there than anything else. People say that the ones who live like this are living on cheap grace.
Whether you call it cheap grace or “easy believism”, it essentially says that all you have to do to be saved is to believe in Jesus, be baptized, and you’re in. I call it false faith. The Bible teaches that we are to believe on Jesus and we will be saved. A lot of people merely believe in Jesus. That may have been my problem. When I joined the church in 1984, I believe I did so because I believed in Jesus. It wasn’t until I was in college until I was saved because I believed on Jesus. Here’s the difference;
Believe in Jesus, I did something.
Believe on Jesus, someone other than me did something.
People who don’t go to church but call themselves Christians are just fooling themselves, in my opinion. I do not believe church attendance to be any more optional than church membership. By attending church, we are constantly exposed to the Word of God, encouraged by other believers, find accountability, and receive prayer support. These are just a few benefits of church attendance.
When Jesus made those statements to the Samaritan woman, He was merely pointing out the fact that the worship of God would not be bound to one place. As priests of God, we will be able to worship Him anywhere because He is in us and He is with us.
Those who follow cheap grace should be careful. It is true that grace is free. It is true that we are no longer under the law. But grace has freed us from being bound to ritualistic practices to being able to reflect the image of Jesus. Early every morning, Jesus was up with the Lord. He didn’t avoid church. Instead, He dedicated time to it.
So, you might ask, what’s the big deal about going to church? My question is, how can you call yourself a Christian and not want to worship God and fellowship with His Saints? Lack of church attendance may be a sign of a more serious spiritual problem. Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruit.” Lack of fruit can be a sign of either lack of spiritual growth or lack of faith. Those who do not go to church regularly are not likely to study their Bibles, sing praises to God, provide services to His Kingdom, or lead others to faith in Him. If there are no signs of spiritual growth and no evidence of faith, then one what bases does one claim salvation?
If all it takes is a prayer and a handshake to get into the Kingdom, then heaven should not be able to contain all the people who have walked an aisle. God isn’t interested in a membership card as much as He is a contrite heart and a changed life, all evidence of salvation.
