FROM THE PULPIT: WHY IS CHURCH ATTENDANCE IMPORTANT?

The question often arises, "Why is it important to attend church?" I sometimes have to answer that question at 8:15 a.m. each Sunday morning in our household. While I'm prone to admit my vocation mandates my attendance, I still attend church when out of town on vacation. I need the spiritual refueling and I enjoy the fellowship.

Sometimes people tell me they consider themselves to be a Christian, but since they can't stand the hypocritical people in their church, they don't attend worship. While church attendance is not a requirement of being a Christian, you miss out when you don't attend. We miss you when you don't attend.

Have you considered that your church attendance may be a means of grace to someone else? Too often we consider attending church only for what we get out of it, when in many situations we fail to recognize, our attendance brings someone else closer to God.

Rev. William Hinson, a fine Methodist preacher and author of `'The Power of Holy Habits" (Abingdon Press, 1991), shares two analogies that make church attendance a priority.

The first analogy comes from his youth when he tried to catch young pigs on his father's farm. They would round up the hogs from the woods and hollows, then treat them with a chemical for the ticks, worms and fleas. But they couldn't catch every pig. Some pigs were just too wild.

"Put an extra dose on the ones you catch," the elder Hinson would instruct. "Sooner or later they'll rub up against the wild ones and they'll be protected, too."

Church is a time to be refilled and treated against the worldly ticks, worms and fleas. Sooner or later, we'll come into contact with other people, and we become the conduit for God's grace and forgiveness. We are the connection for those who choose not to attend church.

The second analogy is more for our benefit. Hinson says our faith is never in danger of being swallowed by a whale, that we never lose our faith suddenly. But our faith is in danger of being nibbled to death by the minnows. The daily stresses, the worries, the anxieties are all minnows that gradually, slowly, methodically wear us down.

Sure, you don't have to attend church to be a Christian. Jesus said you can worship God in Spirit and in Truth. You can worship anywhere and anytime. Some people worship God on the golf course, and I admit, I've heard God's name invoked more often out of church than in church!

You might even be a good Christian without attending church. But consider that even Jesus made attending worship a priority. Luke 4:16 tells us he made worship in the synagogue on the Sabbath his habit. He knew he needed to get in touch with God, not just for himself, but also for the others to whom he sought to minister.

Make it your priority to attend church, if not for yourself, for the others in your life.