Why Go to Church (part 2)

I mentioned in the first part of this blog series that there is a purpose to church and that God tells us we need church. So why do we need church and what is its purpose? 

I claimed to have an answer that many pastors do not, which is admittedly a pretty bold statement, but I trust what my friend has told me when he has challenged pastors with this question. Still, there is no scientific poll surveying clergy that I’ve investigated, but I am going to assume it's true based on the lack of real depth I've seen in biblical teachings that could easily be mistaken as a TED Talk. But if I assume good intentions, I would say that most pastors see an inherent value in church and admire a beauty in it. However, when asked the question “What is the purpose of church?”, it's possible that they could be caught off-guard. Similar to a child asking a parent “Why is the sky blue?”, they know the sky is a beautiful blue and enjoy gazing upon it without ever wondering the source of it’s beauty. They just accept that church is a beautiful thing and something that a good Christian makes part of their weekly rhythm. 

But church isn’t always beautiful, is it? It should be the safest of places where everyone can feel welcomed, but church isn't always safe. It can be highly political, cliquish, self-serving, and toxic. The reality is that there are healthy but flawed churches, and there are highly unhealthy churches. In fact, Christians may be the biggest threat to Christianity. 

The one thing we know is that there is no perfect church because it's filled with imperfect people, people who may be redeemed yet still imperfectly representing their perfect God. It is comforting to recall what Isaiah prophesied about Jesus:

a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench

So if Jesus has patience with imperfect people in imperfect churches, shouldn't we follow His example? That doesn't mean staying in an unhealthy church environment, but it does mean having patience and grace for others. God loves His people in their imperfection and calls us to be ambassadors of His grace. In contrast, Satan and his minions want to discourage us and destroy a good thing, so if church is a good thing for us, he would want to ruin it and discredit the practice.


It is so easy to think of Church as simply physical building or a religious organization. I wrote "What is Church?" over a decade ago to describe what Church should be, and it still rings true today. It is a longer blog post, but I believe it's important to understand what a church is describe its purpose before explaining why we need church in our lives. 


copyright ©2026 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/)

Popular posts from this blog

The Dichotomy of Being

Image
So as to not be too heady as well as lay the groundwork for this particular blog, what does dichotomy mean? According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, dichotomy is: a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities [e.g.] the dichotomy between theory and practice also : the process or practice of making such a division [e.g.] dichotomy of the population into two opposed classes So “dichotomy” is simply a division within one thing, most often in the sense of polar opposites.  And what is “being”? As a verb, it’s just the act of existing while when used as a noun it a living thing. You and I are beings, and we are both currently acting out our existence. So the rather intimidating title “The Dichotomy of Being” is simply two contradictory beings in one entity. Now again, I don’t want to get too deep, but words are important and I couldn’t find a word I liked better than “dichotomy” to describe what our existence is like because as believers we are...
Read more

Is Modern Israel Biblical Israel?

Image
With the growing conflict in the Middle East, the eyes of the world have been turning toward Israel. So it was no surprise when I was asked the question: do I believe that Modern Israel is the same Israel that’s talked about in the Bible. That question is slightly complicated and one that causes some debate in Christian circles. Understanding the complexity of the question To answer this question some people may argue that we must first draw a distinction between Modern Israel and Ancient Israel. There is no doubt that Ancient Israel is all throughout Scripture, and we know historically it was destroyed as a nation. The people of that ancient nation were scattered throughout the world just as God foretold as early as Deuteronomy, one of the first books in the Bible. God warned that this would happen to Israel as consequence of their sins. Known as the diaspora, the Jewish people wandered for thousands of years without a land to call their own and yet they maintained an identity. I don’...
Read more

A Tale of Two Gods

I heard someone once say that from a philosophical perspective, the atheist has a greater challenge than the theist. He went to describe how the theist only needs to prove the existence of his god, but that the atheist has to disprove every possible god, of which there are multitude. But to be honest, I don’t believe there are really more than two gods: 1) a God Who is truly almighty and all-knowing and 2) the god of our own choosing. The god of our own choosing may be a collection of numerous gods that mutually rule over all reality or it may be the belief in a single ruler higher than all other beings.  But wait… how does this differ from option 1? If the god of our choosing is a single, omnipotent ruler, isn’t that the same as the God of Judeo-Christian religion? Not necessarily. A person could chose to believe in a single, omnipotent being that is different in nature from the God Who Lives. Meanwhile, the atheist would argue that there is no god who is truly real and ...
Read more