Sunday is coming and going to church is looming on the horizon.

Let me know if you can relate to this. There’s allot going on and the tug-o-war begins on how to make everything happen — including going to church. Then it happens…you’re subconscious, a well-meaning church friend or a pushy pastor begins to woodpecker you that you need to go to church. 

For many of us, Sundays without church can bring a tremendous amount of guilt! Church can be a wellspring for spiritual development and growth, but it’s not the only place for this to happen. People really buy into the narrative that we can only find our spiritual life within the walls of our church and if we look elsewhere, we’re doing it wrong or the experience is somehow “not real”. If you can’t or won’t find your way into a building called “church” on Sunday, be encouraged because you can fully walking it out and love Him without perfect attendance.

So, is going to church absolutely necessary? The short answer is no, but keep reading…

Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to attend a church service every Sunday or that it’s a requirement to pack up the family, sit in a building and consume entertainment. The very idea of church was about relationship and sharing life with others in your tribe. We find in the New Testament that churches were literally houses that people were already living in, which became places to fellowship in a deep relational community. So, if people try to make you feel guilty for not attending a church building, know that you haven’t missed the point — they did.

Don’t let guilt erode you away on this matter. As a follower of Jesus Christ, there is an identity we have in God, that transcends whatever guilt or regret or disappointment that’s wrapped up in people’s expectations of you. There is a very private and personal place of intimacy with Him that brings hope and freedom and joy that none can touch or smear or steal away…no matter where you find yourself today. For many, “organized religion” is the very obstacle people need to overcome to get closer to Jesus.

Now, is this a narrative in support of a follower of Jesus Christ to not attend church? Not at all! It’s about the guilt that we (and others) put on ourselves for not always making it a weekly ritual.

Church can be a vibrant experience where we can share life with others, growing in ways we never would otherwise. There’s incredible value being connected in community with other followers of Jesus seeking to become the best version of themselves. A church can be a source of outreach to local communities: serving the homeless, battered women/children and all who have fallen short of the glory of God. So don’t use this as an excuse to justify not going to church or missing a gathering from time to time…use this to know that God doesn’t guilt people into fellowship with Himself or others.

Remember, “Christianity” isn’t a building or a mandatory hour long Sunday activity. Of course becoming a Christian starts with confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead…but after that it’s about you deciding to get up everyday living with a desire to follow and reflect Jesus Christ. There is no church roster that your name gets automatically put on the moment you choose to follow Christ and there are no requirements that are location specific!

You gotta hear this — God is always close by and easily accessible to everyone. Brother Lawrence, who wrote ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’, was a humble cook who experienced life in the kingdom of God to its fullest by discovering the art of living in the presence of God throughout the day. He once said, “I am doing now what I will do for all eternity. I am blessing God, praising Him, adoring him, and loving Him with all my heart.” So living in these moments with God often comes disguised as ordinary days, uneventful moments, and everyday conversations: relaxing with your spouse, meeting with a coworker, preparing a meal for the family, spending time your kids, reading a book, sleeping in because you’re completely exhausted or catching up with a friend over a nice cup of coffee. These can all be rich and faith-affirming experiences that do more for your soul than an hour worship service ever could. Remember, everything God has for you is available to you right where you are. Remember the woman at the well?

Even the most devout Christian can get off track and lose their way (happens to me). Day in and day out, we all face an endless jetstream of demands, desires, pressures, deadlines, duties, expectations, fill in the blank ______. We get tired, distracted and yes…lose focus. Our faith (and practice of it) can definitely include embracing Sundays spent at home with our families while still striving to hold Sundays up as a different sort of day. For whatever reason you’re not attending church, I hope you find your home in a local thriving church community. Because it’s important!

To bring it all home. If you find yourself taking a Sunday off from church now and then, your faith can still be rewarding and real and fully life giving. Don’t panic! So, wherever you find yourself on any given Sunday, continue to walk it out with Him…because He is still walking it out with you.