“But… you’ve GOT to go to church somewhere!”

Everyone in the world, regardless of their religion, knows without question that the one thing most important in life is to go to church. This is the one thing that all religions agree upon; going to church, synagogue, temple, or mosque is the fundamental sign of a believer.

Sure, they all disagree on which day, what time, how long, and what to do when you get there… but as long as you GO, the rest doesn’t matter much. Most people don’t even care what church you go to – but you have to go to church somewhere!

I want you to try to step back a second here and ask yourself why this idea is so important to you. What makes church an absolute requirement, even if you don’t agree with everything they teach? Why is it better to attend an imperfect church than no church?

DEFINING YOUR ARGUMENT

The theory firmly held by pretty much every religious person on Earth, and most likely you yourself or you wouldn’t be reading this article, is that “any church is better than no church”. That statement conceals an unacknowledged belief “I know they teach error, but it’s better than not going to church”.

Some accept that principle absolutely – literally any church is better than no church at all. Others might be willing to apply a few constraints and say “any sabbath-keeping church is better than no church”, or some such, but we’re really just splitting hairs.

I call it splitting hairs because whether someone teaches human sacrifice, or whether they merely teach symbolic human sacrifice (the transubstantiated catholic wafer) is simply a matter of the degree of the error.

Surely you agree – the only real difference here is how far they’re willing to go today. A church that teaches symbolic human sacrifice can very easily shift back into the real thing, in the right social conditions – the inquisition is an excellent proof of that.

Likewise whether someone keeps Easter, or keeps Passover on the wrong day, or keeps it on the right day but uses unclean Passover bread – regardless of how small the error, it’s still the same error – it’s just a matter of degree.

These are all sins, anyone must agree. In fact, they’re all the SAME sin – failing to bring a proper sacrifice at the right time. So why are you willing to accept the smaller versions of that sin, and call such churches a “church of God”, but not willing to live with the larger ones? What is the real difference there?

Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

This certainly does not imply that a small error is fine, as long as you don’t fellowship with someone who teaches “big” errors. Rather, it says that any error is deadly, and if you’ll compromise on Passover bread, and eat Matzos prepared by a stranger to the new covenant (Leviticus 22:25)… it means that in the right circumstances, you’ll compromise on the wrong day.

Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;…

And that means that, in the long term, Satan can make you do whatever he wants – one tiny compromise at a time. He’ll simply use the principle of evolution, an infinite series of tiny changes, to evolve you from an embryo of God to a child of the devil.

There’s an old story of a man who asked a beautiful woman to sleep with him for $1,000,000. She thought about it, and said “sure, why not”. He then said “what if I asked you to sleep with me for $10?” She slapped his face and said “what do you think I am, a whore?” He responded “We’ve already established that, we’re just bargaining about the price now”.

Whether you’re willing to steal a penny or a battleship, you’re a thief. It’s only a question of degree. And whether you’re willing to tolerate false doctrines like Christmas or false doctrines about faith, the nature of God, church government, or the feast days, is only a question of degree.

Because regardless of which false doctrine you meekly tolerate in your church, you make yourself “of them who draw back” from the truth. Literally – they are drawing away from the truth, and you are binding yourself up with them and calling them brethren, or even worse – calling them “men I respect”, the “source of truth”.

Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

The irony is, it doesn’t matter if the doctrine actually IS false or not. If you THINK it is, and don’t do something about it, it’s a compromise to you, and therefore, a sin (Romans 14:14, 20, 23). If you’re willing to tolerate a doctrine you think is wrong, then it might as well be – God knows you’re willing to sacrifice the truth for the sake of fellowship, and therefore you’re of no further use to Him.

BUT YOU WON’T FIND A PERFECT CHURCH

You’ve been thinking this for most of the last section, so I figured I’d say it for you. It goes something like “we attend church with a group we don’t totally agree with, but we’ve just agreed to disagree for the sake of fellowship… because we know we’ll never find a group we agree with about everything!”

Think about it; could Satan have crafted a better phrase to get people to compromise with false doctrine? Seriously, imagine you’re Satan, you’ve deceived a church and you want to get some guy to tolerate it. Can you think of a better way than saying “sure, they’re not perfect, but you just have to settle for the best you can find because you have to go to church SOMEWHERE!”

I can’t. See, this statement is founded on the assumption, the unsubstantiated assumption, that you have to go to church somewhere, no matter what. Why, when you KNOW a church teaches falsehood, and you KNOW they won’t change it, WHY is the drive to attend ANYWHERE so strong that it overwhelms your desire to obey the pure truth of God?

Why do you HAVE To find a perfect church? Why is finding a church so important? I question your belief at its root – WHY must you have a church? Where is that scripture? Oh, what about Hebrews 10:25, you say? I’m glad you asked!

Do you know the verse before and the verse after Hebrews 10:25 by heart, the way you know just that one verse? Probably not. Because that verse proves you should go to church… and the context tells you when you shouldn’t, and why.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

In context, you see that we should “consider one another”, and “provoke unto love and good works”. Provoke. Think about that. That’s not a nice word, not a gentle word. That’s a word that implies correction – correcting the congregation to get them to love one another, and do good works.

This verse commands you to consider the other brethren; think about them. Then correct them! Think about their faults, and then provoke them to do better! By saying “you’ll never find a perfect church”, you’ve told me that yours is not – and therefore, that there are a variety of teachings you disagree with completely.

It is a sin to follow one half of verse 25, and not follow verse 24 in the process. If you’re not going to church to PROVOKE them to correct their false doctrines and their sins, then you’re not keeping this verse! If you’re just going there to feel useful, to set up chairs and play music and transcribe for the deaf, then you might as well go to the Baptist church!

You said you’ll never find a perfect church and I agree. Because it’s your job to help that church approach perfection! Now think about verse 25 objectively; why would Paul have to say this? Obviously, if he’s telling people not to stop going to church, then it’s because they WERE tempted to stop going!

Now why would they want to forsake the church? Because the church was NOT producing good works, and NOT showing love to one another! Because as Paul himself said, “the mystery of iniquity doth already work”, which interfered with love and good works!

It’s tempting to just run from the problem, to quietly disappear like a gutless coward and leave the church, smug in your self-assurance that you’re too good for that church anymore. That would be forsaking the church and you should not do that! That is not how you would want to be treated if you were sinning, and therefore it is a sin to do it to them.

Contrary to what you might think, I don’t believe you should just up and disappear from church after deciding that you can’t tolerate one more error. For years, you’ve called these people your brethren. You owe it to them to share the truth with them God has shown you, and provoke them to do better!

And now we’ve arrived at what this verse ACTUALLY means! When you discover error in your church, you MUST stay in that church, and PROVOKE them to change their ways – not taking no for an answer. Exhort the brethren, and all the more as we approach the end times!

Leviticus 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Or, as the KJV marginal rendering has it, “Rebuke your brother, that you bear not sin for him”! If you see your brother sin a sin, and don’t tell him, that blame is on your head, as the watchman, and as your brother’s keeper! (Ezekiel 33:6).

That’s why Hebrews 10:24 says you should “consider one another”, and if they are sinning, “provoke them to do good works”, instead of the evil works they are doing now! If the church is not perfect, if it is not teaching the truth from the Bible, HELP THEM SEE IT! Don’t hide in the shadows and busy yourself with pillow-fluffing because you’re afraid to confront them!

The world believes that it’s better to agree to disagree “for the sake of fellowship”. God asks… “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). The world believes God is happy when churches get along, and accept these “inevitable disagreements” and just hug it out. But is that really why Jesus came? To bring churches together?

Luke 12:49, 51 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? … Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

God WANTS you to provoke your church, and make them choose right or wrong (Revelation 3:15-16). He WANTS them to divide, and splinter, more and more – each time sorting out those who love the truth, and separating them from those who love the church. Which are you?

The alternate version of this statement is in Matthew 10:34; but look at the context:

Matthew 10:32-33 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

This is the context because this is what you do when you agree to disagree with heretics and sinners! You deny the truth God has given you, and Jesus will in turn deny that He ever wrote your name in the book of life!

And that’s why Hebrews 10:25 was written, to prevent you from merely forsaking your church, and neither confessing nor denying Him! It was written, NOT to teach us that “any church is better than no church”, but quite the opposite – to force you to confront your deceived brethren and confess God before those men!

AND AFTER THAT…

But see, I’ve done that. I’ve gone to every church that would listen and told them, individually and collectively, how they didn’t live up to the bar set by the Bible. And I’ve found a universal truth – churches don’t change. People can change, sometimes, rarely. People can choose to love the truth, and reject the error. But a church will not.

So if you take something you know, something you are SURE is right that they teach wrong, and show it to the brethren; if you correct the ministry when they teach false doctrine; you might convert a sinner from his ways, but you won’t save the church. And very shortly, the church will invite you to leave.

Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

And this scripture is about what happens next, to those people whom you “provoked to love and good works” (verse 24), whom you didn’t forsake until they kicked you out (verse 25). Reading this verse in context, first God commanded you to go to your not-quite-perfect church and help them change.

When you do that, they will most likely reject you – and they will hate you, and that will be hard for you to take. And so verses 26-27 are there to tell you what will happen to them once they sin WILLFULLY after receiving the knowledge of the truth THAT YOU JUST BROUGHT THEM!

These verses are said for you, who will be lonely and feel like God has not defended you; this is for you to know what awaits THEM, after you have provoked them to love and good works, and been disfellowshipped for your trouble!

In Jeremiah’s day, people still kept the Sabbath. There was still a temple, with rituals and sacrifices and gathering. But God revealed the truth to Jeremiah, and showed him how much he hated those pretend-Christians (Jeremiah 7:2-11). And they hated him for it, and cast him out – much the same place you’ll be, after you obey Hebrews 10:25 for the first time. So how did he handle it?

Jeremiah 15:16-17 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.

Jeremiah was a true Christian – he was called by God’s name! And he was PROUD of the fact that HE didn’t sit in the assembly of the mockers! He didn’t “rejoice before God” with them! He wasn’t saying “amen” to their prayers or singing “onward Christian soldiers” with so-called brethren who had rejected the will of his Father!

And what did God say to him? That he shouldn’t “lean to his own understanding”? That he should “not forsake the assembling of the brethren”? That he “shouldn’t be so self-righteous”, and “just pick the best church”, the “lesser of the evils”?

Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: LET THEM RETURN UNTO THEE; BUT RETURN NOT THOU UNTO THEM.

Jeremiah was PRAISED for keeping himself apart from the apostate temple-goers! God said his job was to “be as God’s mouth” – that is, to tell them what God said and “provoke them to love and good works” – and that these people he’d left might return to him, but that he was NOT to return to them!

Verse 20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

And if you do as God commands and provoke them to good works, and if you are “as God’s mouth” to them, telling them the commands of God and insisting on righteousness from your members and especially your ministry, I promise you that they will indeed fight against you and put you out of their church – but God says they will not prevail against you!

BUT WHERE WILL I GO TO CHURCH?

Seriously, you’re still asking? I’ll ask you some questions in answer, then. Where did Elijah go to church?

1 Kings 19:14And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Where did Elijah go to church? He was completely alone. There were churches in Israel, with “brethren” attending every Sabbath, and the holy days, with an ordained priesthood… but Elijah was alone. Why? By the logic religion clings to, Elijah should have gone to these brethren for “fellowship”, “not forsaking their assembly together”!

Sure, they had put some idols of Asherah in God’s temple, but so have the churches of God. How many people wear hearts to church? They are a pagan sex symbol. How many have stars of David around? Canaanite sun symbol. Angel statues, “He is the light of the world” pictures, even crosses in some homes (although officially that’s frowned upon) – idols, every one.

So Elijah’s temple had a few sun symbols, a few fertility symbols in it. So what – if you were there, you’d have told him that he wasn’t going to find a perfect church in Israel, and that he owed it to the people to go to church and help in whatever way he could, even if it was only setting up chairs and taking care of the elderly.

Now if you’re clever, you’ll retort that Elijah wasn’t alone, that there were in fact 7,000 true Christians left in Israel, as God informed him (verse 18). And that is true, but Elijah didn’t know them! And they weren’t going to church on the Sabbath with the rest of Israel because if they did, they’d have been forced to bow the knee to Baal!

They couldn’t go to the temple without compromising, so they didn’t go and therefore they didn’t know each other, or Elijah! Only God knew who, and where, they were!

Can you see the parallel with our time? What if one of those people had decided that he had to go to church somewhere – if not for himself, then to edify others at church; if not for that, then for his children to have a social outlet; what if he had decided that any church was better than no church? (After all, they keep the right day, and they have a lot of the truth right!)

Well, then God would have only had 6,999 people who hadn’t bowed the knee to Baal. 6,999 people who were true brethren of Elijah, even though they had never met him!

Psalm 26:3-5 …I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

David, because he walked in God’s truth above all else, refused to sit with empty seat-warmers, people who have been in the churches of God for 50 years and can’t prove the simplest doctrine. He refused to go to church with those who tore down the truth, and HATED the congregation of evildoers, refusing to sit with the wicked.

And God liked him for it. Think about that.

WHO ARE YOUR BRETHREN?

Matthew 12:47-48 …Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

Something you’re going to run into, is the tendency to think of these people who kick you out of church as “brethren”, equals whom God loves as much as you. And that simply isn’t the case. You don’t become brethren by visiting a certain building once a week.

Matthew 12:49-50 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Everyone who does God’s will is your brother. That’s what Jesus said. Immediately, someone objects “but what if they just don’t understand, what if God hasn’t revealed say, the Sabbath to them yet”…

Well, when God gets around to revealing the Sabbath to them, and they get around to keeping it, Jesus and I will get around to calling them brethren. After you’ve read them the scriptures, someone who just “doesn’t see” that they have to stop eating pork isn’t a brother. They’re simply rebellious.

Once you tell someone the truth – and once you’ve answered any reasonable objections – if they don’t want to keep the truth they’re not your brethren. It’s not about what physical rituals they keep now, it’s about whether they keep what God, through you perhaps, tells them to do.

And it’s a never-ending process; if they kept the Sabbath when you told them Sunday was wrong, great, for now they’re brethren. But if they refuse to keep the holy days too, well… they’re not anymore, until they repent. It only takes one willful sin to keep you out of the Kingdom of God.

Notice, I didn’t say one SIN. I said one sin that you refuse to stop once you’ve been told, according to the principles of Matthew 18:15-17 and Titus 3:10. Whether it’s the theft of a penny you refuse to repay or a bumper sticker with a cross on it. Anything that someone refuses to change, however small or however much right they’ve done before, is a mortal sin (Ezekiel 18:24).

BUT WHERE DO YOU GET FELLOWSHIP?

The same place every true Christian does; from God.

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

If, and when, I find someone whom I can associate with, learn from or teach, I gladly do so. But I don’t need it. You still do. Yes, you do or you wouldn’t be asking these questions. You don’t need to learn the truth from a dull sermon in church. Let’s face it, most of them are just reading a few chapters of the Bible anyway – and that’s the good sermons. You can do that by yourself, and so much more.

No, this is not about God, not about the truth, not about fellowship. This is about fear. You’re afraid to be alone. You’re afraid to be responsible to no one but God, to have no one to help you, no one to fall back on. And you know what? That’s exactly what you should be.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now MUCH MORE IN MY ABSENCE, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

You don’t need an apostle to teach you the truth. It’s helpful sometimes, but a lifetime of it isn’t a help – it’s a crutch. It’s a cast for an injury that healed 20 years ago. The church will tell you there is no such thing as an independent Christian. The fact is, there’s no other kind.

God doesn’t save churches. Not as you understand the term, anyway. God saves individuals. God left Jesus alone on a stake to prove that He was walking on His own, without anyone holding His hand.

When have you ever been alone? When have you ever proved that you will be righteous without your church, your family, your money?

Think about that.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The church is pictured as a woman; and today’s churches of God, full of gossip and false doctrine, cliques and feuds, backbiting and respecting of persons, is best symbolized by the Proverbs woman. No, not the one in Proverbs 31 (she wishes!), but the one in…

Proverbs 21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.

I dwell in the spiritual wilderness, gladly, rather than call such a contentious woman my “mother”. I’m quite sure Jesus prefers the wilderness to calling such a woman “wife”.

All I’m telling you is to take a good, hard look at the person sitting next to you at church (the commandment in Hebrews 10:24), and ask yourself… “do I want him ruling 10 cities with absolute power in the Kingdom of God? And would I want to live in those cities?”

Why not? What keeps that from happening? Consider him. And if he isn’t doing the will of your Father, provoke him to love and good works like you were ordered to do! And if he rejects you, try again; and when you’ve gone through the congregation, you’ll find that everyone believes they’re good enough for God just as they are! And since you know they’re not, and they refuse to change… why are you fellowshipping with them?

Regardless of what you may think, I WANT you to go to church – but do it right, and EXHORT the brethren! Don’t just hold down a chair, PROVOKE them unto love and good works – INSIST on what is right from the ministry, and don’t settle for less! And once you’ve told them the truth and they reject you, find a different church!

And when you’ve gone through all the churches in your area and find yourself alone… then, and only then, will God know what you truly believe, and what you truly love.

You literally cannot imagine how much understanding is still hidden in the Bible the church thinks it “pretty much fully understands”. And only when you’ve chosen sides, once and for all, can God start revealing the depths of the Bible that He hides from your unworthy church.

Frankly, only then do you have the slightest chance of finding salvation.