Going to church is a necessity for Christians, even if they don't feel like going all the time, experts claim.
In an article at Bible Study Tools, Dr Craig L Blomberg, a New Testament professor at the Denver Seminary, said that the ease with which people turn their backs on the church in the West is disappointing given the number of people in countries where Christians who want to express their faith are being persecuted for their beliefs.
"It's here in the US, in the Western world more generally, where so much less is at stake that we offer up such pathetic reasons for not joining together with fellow believers on a regular, weekly basis. And almost all of the excuses are anthropocentric rather than Christocentric. That's a fancy way of saying we've in essence reworded the well-known praise song to make it say, 'It's all about me, Lord,' rather than 'It's all about you, Jesus!' " he said.
Blomberg said that Christians should change their perspective in going to church and shift from asking what they can get to what they can contribute.
He added that Christians need to revisit the essence of church, which is not the style of music and preaching, but rather giving love and encouragement to other members of the flock.
Eddie Kaufholz, director of Church Mobilisation for the International Justice Mission, echoed Blomberg's position, saying it is important for Christians to attend church because Jesus himself loves the church and giving importance to the church is a testament to the faithful's love for Christ.
In his post at Relevant Magazine, Kaufholz urged waning Christians to reflect on why their fervour towards the church has dampened and asked them to treat their relationship with the church as they would a marriage.
He acknowledged that part of the reason Christians are no longer so enthusiastic about spending their Sundays in worship are the changing trends and tastes, but he added that should not be a hindrance to attending church.
"It's like a long dating relationship that, one day, you wake up and realise you want out of. There was no infidelity or dramatic reason for breaking up. You just realised he's not the one for you and the magic has dimmed," he said.
Kaufholz said that if Christians treat their relationship with the church like a romantic relationship or a marriage, they should find out the cause of the staleness in their hearts, in order to understand the real cause of their disconnection.
"Well they're bored because you can't just be a stagnant spouse and expect the marriage to thrive. You have to participate, laugh, fight, apologise and remember why it is you fell in love in the first place," he said.
"The reason you fell in love is because the church is the bride of Christ. Yep. It's that kind of relationship. Not one of consumerism or logos or meaningless catchphrases, but one of a marital bond," he added.
