A Place of Accountability
Another reason I believe a home church is necessary is because in it you find a sense of accountability.
In fact, people have often said to me, “Why don’t you start your own church?” I think that would be a bad idea! And one of the reasons I think this is because of a lack of accountability.
The Importance of Accountability in Church Life
I’ve seen it happen. A person breaks away from his or her church, starts an independent church with no affiliation to anyone, and then the leader of that church can do whatever they want. With their lack of accountability, the leader often drifts off course into strange things.
In my life, I need people to be accountable to. I need a support structure to keep me focused.
And it’s very much the same in our spiritual lives. We come to our family in faith, to our church, to fellowship together, because we find that accountability. People who can be honest with us. People who can guide us, help us, and correct us if need be.
Devoted to Jesus and His Teaching
In Acts 2, where the author is talking about what the early church looked like, he said that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” (Acts 2:42) In other words, they knew what they stood for. They had beliefs that they adhered to, to guide them in their lives.
You know, that’s something that’s unique to church. You can get togetherness and encouragement from places like bars, sports clubs, book clubs, and so on. There’s a fellowship that happens there. But real church is a place where we devote ourselves to Jesus, and to His teaching, and keep each other accountable.
We come to church desperately wanting God! To become more like Him. And so the community keeps us accountable.
A few weeks ago I met a friend of mine for coffee, and we spoke about our struggles, our weaknesses. We were quite graphic and honest about it, and we both left stronger for it, resolved to walk with God and become more like Christ, having strengthened each other.
At church you have an opportunity to find others who can keep you accountable on your walk.
Find a local church, and find people in that church who will keep you accountable in your walk with God.
Church attendance is not optional but essential for our spiritual growth and community. Examine what is keeping you from gathering with God's people on Sundays and commit to making worship a priority.