You can say that I knew God from a rather young age. My parents were both devout Christians and they taught my siblings and I, right from when we were young, the way of God.

Going to church was never a problem because my parents always went to church and of course, we had to follow them. I enjoyed going to church, sometimes, I even looked forward to it.

About 3 years ago, I started getting dissatisfied with going to church. This was not because I lost faith in God. It was because my local church did not feed my spirit.

Rather than feel uplifted, I felt intimidated. It felt like church was no longer for worship but for fashion. Also, it seemed like a place for social status competition and comparison.

The word being preached was mostly targeted at specific people than general edification and encouragement.

I’m not one to judge but there were hypocrites that just didn’t practice what they themselves preached about.

This made me nonchalant, I just wasn’t interested and let’s just say my body was there but my mind and soul were somewhere else. I longed for more; I needed to feel that excitement when going to church but I felt nothing.

Because of all these, the devil did take advantage of me. He always made me see reasons not to go to church and I stopped going at some point.

Reasons you should consider going to church again

Every time, I would justify my reasons for not going to church. “The word doesn’t even feed me, besides, I know some of the things they are preaching”, I would say. “Some of them are hypocrites, they look down on people”, “I need to change my wardrobe so I won’t look too simple and I won’t be repeating clothes.

So I started to feed my ego, pride crept in unawares and I almost became comfortable in that state.

Somehow, In His mercy, God delivered me. He made me realize that fellowshipping with brethren is necessary and a command.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the day approaching

Hebrews 10:24–25”

I also noticed that somehow, I became lukewarm and I didn’t know. I thought I could do it on my own, I thought reading my bible was enough and in fact better than going to church.

I kept judging how my church handled things and how the people behaved. I didn’t pray for them, instead, I was being self-righteous.

Now, I have started going to church but not that church. I changed churches and I am enjoying where I am now.

So what’s the point of all these things I have read so far you ask?

Well, if somehow you can relate to my own story, Then I know by now you have probably stopped going to church or you are contemplating the idea, please don’t.

Instead, I would like you to start going to church or you don’t stop at all, and watch yourself so you don’t fall.

The bible says in 1 Corinthians 10: 12

“Therefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”

The devil is trying all that he can to take us far away from having a relationship with God and fellowshipping with believers. He doesn’t make it so obvious; he is quite subtle and cunning.

2 Corinthians 11:3 says

“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

It’s very important to go to a place where you can worship, not just because you want to hear the word of God and be encouraged but also because you want to engage with a believer.

This world is a dark one and you need people who share the same faith with you to lean on and support you.

If you are also not satisfied with your local church or getting the kind of fellowship you want, I would advise you to change your church. That is the beauty of having different churches, so there’s really no excuse.

Also, pray for the church leaders and other believers that God will keep showing them the light and help them bring their focus to what it really is about; Jesus and the salvation of souls.

---

This post first appeared in Faith Hacking publication on Medium