Why People don’t Participate in Church?

Why People don’t Participate in Church? This article explains why some do not participate, and how to deal with these people, motivating them.

The Divine Mandate

Hebrews 10:25 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.

As a pastor, I have to insist on a very acute distinction here. There is a tremendous difference between attending church (physically being in the building) and participating in church. The command of God is that we “assemble”, which speaks to the participation of the person in what is going on in the church. The first and foremost point here is to physically be in the building. But I have seen many a people who come to a church service, and they are dozing or outright sleeping in the service, they are constantly getting up going to the bathroom, etc. Even if they stay in their seats, they are distracted or highly engaged in doing personal Bible reading instead of following the sermon. That is not what the verse means.

The assembling is linked to the exhorting. There needs to be attention to the preacher, to what he is saying and explaining. I think that as a pastor, people who are looking at me, reacting to what I say, taking notes, and being respectful is exactly what this verse means.

• Read my other article, How to Deal with different Types of Church Attendees, especially the part at the end, A few more Points and The Church is a Spiritual Workshop.

Reasons People Disengage from Church

(1) I can get what I need some other way.

There are people who do not really go to church regularly. They watch a TV sermon, or some preacher on the Internet, and think they are done for the week. But there is the point here in that God has established local churches, and every obedient Christian needs to find a good church, and be there every Sunday. The idea again is participating, engaging in what is going on there. There are no tourists in heaven. A tourist is a person that goes to a place to look at but not participate in what is actually going on there. Christianity and salvation is a “hands on” thing that you must participate in wholly, or you are not going to heaven.

(2) I worship God on my own, in private.

Yes! Exactly. You need to study your Bible, meditate, pray, and worship God on your own. But that does not exclude, replace, or do away with your congregating in a good church every Sunday. In our day, we live in a “have it your own way” world. We want everything tailor made to what agrees with us. But when you are talking about spiritual training, because we all are under warfare from Satan, that personal stuff doesn’t cut it. If you go to an army boot camp, there is no personal anything. Everybody is pressed into the same rules and training so that they each can perform when under battle conditions. Why would anything else work? In spiritual training so you as a Christian can survive spiritual warfare, why do you think you can do everything and know everything when you really don’t have the experience nor the training for that? A pastor is somebody who has devoted his life to learning the Word of God, often times, a pastor of 10 years experience means he has spent maybe 30 or 40 hours each week studying the Word of God and preparing a presentation to teach what he has learned to the congregation. Doing that week in and week out for 10 years, (10 x 52 weeks in a year x 30 hours per week =  15,600 hours. You spend that amount of time on studying the Word of God?).

(3) I have my Christian friends, and that is my church.

Christian friends are good and necessary, but is that really a church? What happens among friends when one becomes too preachy? They are excluded. Is that what you are defining as complying with the divine mandate? In other words, you want to identify as being a Christian and going to heaven, but you don’t want to spend too much energy on actually changing your life?

When Christian friends get together, they rarely exhort one another. The formal presentation of a sermon, like we have recorded in various places in the Bible, is what happens in these get-togethers. Group get-togethers are usually more fun.

(4) I have to work Sundays.

In all cases, people choose their vocations. Maybe in time of war, a person is drafted into the war, but really? You chose what you do, so why choose something that blocks you from church? This is more a lifestyle choice that you just don’t want to be in church, and this is the best excuse for that which you have found. Find another job. Which is more important, being right with God or having a job?

(5) I have family obligations on Sundays.

Again, if you choose to elevate family above God, are you really a Christian? Why not invite your family, obligate them to go to church with you?

Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

A person has to learn, if you become a Christian, you should strive as much as you can to get your family saved as you are. If they are stubborn and refuse, you may lose them. But God will give you a new family among the brethren.

(6) Church is boring.

If church is boring to you, then what they are doing and talking about is the reason why. This reflects not on them, but on you, because every truly saved person has great interest in the things of God. Churches should try not to present what they present in a boring manner, but the topic of conversation God, the Savior, our Christian lives, etc. If that doesn’t interest you, why doesn’t it interest you?

On a parallel note, church is boring because you do not go there to engage in moral change. That is church’s purpose to morally make you better, make you stronger spiritually.

(7) I have been hurt and offended by people in my church.

That may be so. But just because you went to one medical professional, and they were having a bad day, and they didn’t do everything like how you like it, does that mean you are never going to go to a doctor again, or you will just skip going if you have a heart attack? Seems foolish, doesn’t it.

(8) I don’t trust church leadership.

This may be a valid reason for a person not engaging himself in church. But the point is, you discerned a problem, and you haven’t changed churches. There are bad churches, abusive pastors, and false doctrine out there. If you get into one of them, as soon as you discern that point, get out and find a good church instead.

(9) I have physical problems and cannot attend church.

That is too bad. But there is a lot to be said for other people caring for you, visiting you, and trying to help you in any way that they can. If you have established a good relationship with a local church, that friendship with the pastor and people there will be shown even if you are bedridden. It should be a high priority of every Christian to have a good relationship with a local body of God’s people, a local church, right up until their death.

Why People don’t Participate in Church?