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. So too, pastors just accept that church is a beautiful thing and that it is something 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 it can be highly political, cliquish, self-serving, and toxic. The reality is that there are both healthy yet flawed churches, and there are also 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 a physical building or a religious organization. I wrote "What is Church?" over a decade ago to describe what Church should be. It is a longer blog post, but I believe it's important to understand the essence and purpose of church before explaining why we need church in our lives. 


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

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