3 Reasons to Get Involved at Church

Picture it: a young woman slides into the rear pew of your church a few minutes before the service starts. She sings with the congregation and takes notes during the sermon, but seconds after the final “amen” she slips out the back door, just to appear again the next week and do the same thing. You don’t know her name and she doesn’t know yours, but you’re a part of the same family, the same body. You wouldn’t know it, though, from the outside looking in.

During my college years, I was that young woman, at least when the semester was in session. Between classes, work, and extracurriculars, my schedule was packed. Sure, I was still making church a priority, but I wasn’t really involved in the church that I attended in my little college town. 

While it’s true that our level of involvement in the church can vary greatly depending on the season of life that we’re in, it is also true that we miss out on much of what the Body of Christ was intended to be when we slip in and out of the doors of our local church anonymously.

Even though I was blessed to be surrounded by Christian community during college because of the university that I attended, there is truly no replacement for the local church. The church is God’s plan for us as believers, and there are many blessings readily available to us when we partake in the community that the Lord has graciously provided. Here are just three of them.

1. Being involved in church allows you to walk out your calling.

Scripture is clear that as believers indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we have been given spiritual gifts. Scripture is also clear that the purpose of our gifts is not self-serving, but rather, these gifts are intended for the benefit of the community of believers (1 Pet. 4:10).

In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul emphasizes the communal aspect of our spiritual gifts by stating that they were given to us “for the common good.” And in Ephesians 4:12, he reminds us that our spiritual gifts are meant to “build up the body of Christ.” This means that my gifts belong to you and your gifts belong to me.

When you were called into union with Christ, you also entered into union with fellow believers as members of the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:4–5). That means that if you are not involved in a local church where you can serve others with your gifts and be served by the gifts of other believers, you aren’t walking in the fullness of who God has made you in Christ. 

When we fail to engage in the mutual “building up” of the church through our spiritual gifts, we deprive ourselves and others of the edification and encouragement that God intended for us. When we are involved, we will find the blessings of both serving others and being served.

2. Sharing together in Christ helps you fight sin.

Hebrews 3:12–13 says, “Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.” 

The author of Hebrews emphasizes the importance of fellowship between believers to guard against sin and spiritual decline. Believers are told to “watch out” and “encourage one another daily” so that they are not hardened by sin and unbelief. How can we fellowship with and encourage other believers if we are not in each other’s lives? The answer is simple: we can’t.

The community shared among believers serves as a powerful tool in our ongoing battle against sin, helping to safeguard our hearts and minds. When we actively share in Christ together, should we or another brother or sister fall into sin, other believers are there, ready to encourage and admonish us as we continue to run the race. 

3. Finding community in the church allows you to participate in burden-bearing.

Most of us are familiar with the command to bear one another’s burdens found in Galatians 6:2. In the CSB it reads, “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” 

This command was never meant to heap up unbearable weight onto one person; after all, Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt. 11:28–30). Instead, it was meant to remind us that as believers, we are all a part of one body and when one of us suffers, we all suffer (1 Cor. 12:26). Part of the beauty of the body of Christ is that no one has to bear their burdens alone. As we share each other's burdens, we emulate the sacrificial love of Christ and fulfill His commandment to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34–35).

An additional blessing of bearing the burdens of others is that it helps us look beyond ourselves. When we try to bear the weight of our burdens on our own, it’s easy to become consumed by them. But when others are helping us bear the weight, we are freed to love and serve others because we are no longer engulfed by carrying the weight alone.

Don’t Miss Out on the Blessing

Dear friend, there are abundant blessings to be experienced when you are actively involved with a body of believers. It can be tempting to slip quietly in and out of the church, but my prayer is that you would linger, that you would serve, that you would put down roots and invest in the people around you. The church is God’s plan for us as believers, and when we are actively involved in it, we can experience the fullness of the blessing it was intended to be.