I have a friend who struggles with a number of problems. He is a Christian, but he struggles to be faithful.
Recently, he had encountered a serious financial problem. In conversation with him, I encouraged him to go to church the next Sunday.
He responded, “I know I should go, but that won’t solve my immediate financial problem.”
My friend is right. It won’t. If he goes to church on Sunday, he won’t suddenly get an unexpected check in the mail on Monday. Faith in God does not work that way. God is not a vending machine. If we insert a prayer or a church attendance or a good deed, we can’t push a button and expect to get back whatever we selected. God is living and active. And He is God, not our puppet or servant. We are His servants, not the other way around.
The thing is that we should pray, go to church, and do good deeds for their own sake.
My friend’s statement raises the question of why we go to church (or to a care group or Bible study). If we go to church to get something that we desire or need, we are going to be disappointed.
We should go to church primarily to worship God, to recognize His greatness and His justice and His mercy and His love. We should go to church to praise Him and thank Him. We should go to church primarily to have a relationship with God.
Next, we should go to church, not to get what we desire, but to align our desires with His desires. We should go to learn and understand who God is and what He wants and then to become like Him, to ask Him to change us so that we will live out His justice and mercy and love.
There are side benefits, of course. In church, we will often receive encouragement and guidance and sometimes even practical help from other believers. And in church we will be called upon to give encouragement and guidance and sometimes even practical help to others. The blessings of God’s kingdom are often communal rather than individual.
No, going to church will not guarantee a financial windfall. But it will bless us and hopefully make us to be a blessing to others.
