5/23/2020 0 Comments No, You Don't Have to Go to ChurchOk, so this has been something that's been bothering me for awhile now. That is, this notion that you're required to go to church, because, no, you're not. Allright, with those fighting words out of the way, let's dig to the heart of the issue. First, let's take this notion apart theologically:
The theological reason that many say you have to go to church is because of this verse: “Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” - Hebrews 10:23-25 (CSB) Seems like an open and shut case for the “must go to church crowd,” right? Not really. We need to look at verses in several ways, first, in context, and also, in a way that doesn’t exclude other possible meanings. First, in the verse’s historical context, if you wanted to meet with others, you had to do it in person. There was no option to do it online, as there was no internet. Also, meeting together in a big gathering once a week was advantageous to them as back then you worked sun up to sun down. If you didn’t, well, you didn’t eat. You didn’t have time to meet up with friends throughout the week. Sunday was the one day you could talk to others. Today, things are different. Now, we are able to communicate with each other online, and in fact, many have friends who we know online only and will probably never meet in person. Also, not many Americans are working sun up to sun down anymore. Now, let’s add to that the fact that people claim that it means there must be a gathering of many believers in one building, to worship and encourage each other. I don't think that the verse means that at all. Once again, if we look at the historical context of the verse, that’s maybe what it meant at the time, as that was their only option, but we have other options now. We don’t have to have mass gatherings of believers in a single place anymore. Personally, the moments that I’ve grown the most in my faith were the ones where I was talking to others about faith issues on Discord servers. In addition to that, I don’t think the verse in any way even implies that there must be a gathering of many believers in one spot. As I see it, all the verse requires is a few believers being there for each other to encourage one another. I think that can be done even among just two believers taking a walk with each other or messaging each other. Let’s also take a more philosophical angle to this. I'm just going to use myself as an example in this one. I've been abused by the church my entire life. Going to church brings stress and depression. Add to that the fact I've always grown more in my personal study and worship or on Discord. But, let's keep mostly focused on the stress and depression church causes me. Church has traumatized me due to abuse from the church. It has actively harmed my walk, in fact I even left the faith once because of the church. How could you tell someone like me that we have to go to church. It's literally comparable to telling an abused girlfriend that she has to go back to her abusive ex-boyfriend. Would Jesus support being forced to go to a place that actively harms one’s walk? I don’t think so. What matters is that you grow spiritually, and if going to church is going to harm you, or just straight out not benefit you spiritually, I think going to church is a bad idea. That said, if going to church helps you greatly, I encourage you do so.
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AuthorHi! I'm Anna, a currently transitioning transgender woman! I started my blog "Ramblings of a Trans Woman" as therapy for gender and identity issues and abuse from my parents and church. Hopefully, someone else out there can get something from this. If you want to talk, just get in contact with me, there's plenty of ways how and we'll discuss the best way to talk! Archives
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