Why Is Church Attendance Important?
We have all met them. Perhaps there is one in your family or circle of friends. Those people who say they can be a good Christian without attending church. “After all,” they claim boldly, “the apostles did not attend church.” Is community really optional for Christians? Americans, perhaps more than any other people group, are well known for their rugged individualism. Many of us have grown up with the old saying, “God helps those who help themselves,” repeated to them throughout their formative years. We are raised to be fiercely independent people, relying on our own ingenuity, effort, intelligence, skills, and strength to achieve whatever it is we hope to achieve. We do not usually think in terms of large group identity, unless it comes to attacks on the nation, such as what we saw on September 11, 2001. Small group identities, for example, can include school spirit for their sports team. So, it is no surprise, having this sort of attitude about life, that our spiritual lives of
