Introduction⤒🔗

He'd never actually been inside a church before. Poorly dressed, unwashed and smell­ing of cigarette smoke, he took a seat in a corner at the back of the smart, aseptic evan­gelical church. He was so engrossed in his own problems that he hardly noticed the family which walked in, and occupied their usual place near the front.

She was a high school student, smartly dressed, hard-working and a bright per­sonality. Her Dad was an important member of the local church, which she had attended all her life. She was an outspokenly moral person, one of the few virgins left in her class. She noticed this young man at the back, but dismissed him from her mind with the ques­tion, "Where did he come from," as she smiled at some of the other church folk. Now it was time to bow our heads in preparation for the service. "Dear God," she prayed, "I thank you for giving me so much: my family, my upbringing, my Christian convictions. Thank you for keeping me from falling into sin, and becoming a loser." "Like that guy at the back," she added.

You couldn't see him now, for his head was bowed right down as he prayed, "God, have mercy on me; I’m just a wicked man."

And Jesus said, "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God."Luke 18:14

Does going to church make you a Christian? No more than going to a garage makes you a motor car. Our Lord's teaching reminds us that both inside and outside the church there are the kinds of people he described in Luke 18:9 – those "who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else."

Do you know this spiritual diagnostic ques­tion: "Suppose you were to die tonight, and stand before God, and he were to say to you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?' What would you say?" Non-Christians usually talk about their good works – or lack of evil ones! But how would you answer it? Deep down, despite our ability to explain the Gospel, there so often lurks a mentality which defines Christianity in terms of morality. "O yes, of course I know he's a believer, but Lord I thank you that I don't compromise like he does..."

A Christian is someone whose armour-plate of self-righteousness has been shattered by God's grace; he has cried out, "God be merci­ful to me, a sinner." But he is also someone who is ever prone to begin to fashion again a Pierre Cardin suit of morality. We need to remember that when Jeremiah cried out, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags!" he spoke for God's people. As we approach God, the tax collector's words never cease to be appropriate for us.

With these introductory thoughts, let us turn to consider two closely related questions: Do you have to go to church to be a Christian? Aren't all good people Christians?

Aren’t All Good People Christians?←⤒🔗

Let us return to the Pharisee, praying with himself in the synagogue. He was a very moral person. The Pharisees had analyzed the Law of God: they found 613 Command­ments, 248 positive, and 365 negative. For them, religion was primarily ethical. And on this level, what the Pharisee prayed was true! He was a good man, a very good man.

Many people today are good, upstanding citizens. We should be thankful for this. But why are they? Most people, whether con­sciously or not, have a "social contract" with their neighbours. You treat them well, and I'll do the same to you. It is so easy to slip into thinking that God is just another neigh­bour. This is where the Pharisee went wrong.

He was saying, in effect, to God: "Look at me, Lord. I'm this, that and the other, and not at all like other men. So won't you treat me well; you owe it to me, you know."

Contrast the tax-collector! No doubt there were many things he hadn't done, too. But hear him: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Like the lost son, he knew he had sinned against heaven (i.e. God). He would have said "Amen" to Ezra's prayer:

O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to heaven.Ezra 9:6

Which one was justified? The tax collector. Why not the Pharisee? Because God is not just your neighbour: he is Judge of all the earth, who looks not on the outside, but on your heart. What kind of God is he? He is perfect. So what kind of life is acceptable to him? You guessed it ... And who has ever of­fered up that kind of life to God? You guessed it again: Jesus. So in what should you trust for acceptance with God? Certainly not your good deeds!

God knows your heart: he knows the secret thoughts of your heart. You cannot fool him. All your righteous deeds, all your respect­ability, all your moral uprightness, all your church going ... What does God think of them? Filthy rags. And if that is all you have to wear when you appear before God, then it's time to be very concerned.

Good deeds do not make a Christian; if they did, there would be no Christians. The Chris­tian is the person who echoes the tax-collec­tor, "God be merciful to me, a sinner."

Our first point is that your good deeds, in­cluding going to church, don't make you a Christian.

So do You have to Go to Church, then?←⤒🔗

The person who asks this often assumes that a Christian = a good person, and since not all good people go to church, then it is not neces­sary to do so. This is often coupled with the statement that, anyway, the church is full of hypocrites. (To which we may fairly respond: No, not full; there's always room for one more!)

We have already said that good deeds don't make a Christian. Now consider another tax-collector: his name was Zaccheus, and he lived in Jericho. After Jesus met him, he promised to give 50% of his goods to the poor, and repay four-fold anyone he had cheated. Jesus commented, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man, too, is a son of Abraham." Was Jesus saying that Zaccheus was saved because of his intended good deeds of charity and restitution? No: a son of Abraham is one who exercises the faith of Abraham. But when a person is saved by Jesus, it makes a difference in his life! The difference in Zaccheus's life was plain to see.

What is a Christian? Someone who has come to see himself as the sinner. And who has also been enabled to believe that Jesus is Lord of the universe, and Saviour of all who trust him. He rejoices in the forgiveness of his sins. He loves his Lord, and wants to do what pleases him.

No longer a mere individual, condemned to everlasting loneliness in hell, he is member of God's family, of those saved by Jesus, and forgiven for his sake. Does he have to go to church? What a question! Does the Mammon worshipper have to get more things?!! The person whom Jesus saves wants to be with God's family, worshipping, fellowshipping, encouraging. He loves to be praising the Lord in the company of his people.

But what if church is a "drag"? What if you don't enjoy fellowship with saints? What if you prefer the company of unbelievers - they're "More stimulating, more interesting"? What then?

Then you had better ask yourself how it is with your soul. It is surely possible to be in the church, though not of the church; full of self-righteousness, but unsaved.

No, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. But true Christians will be found in the fellowship of the local church, express­ing their gratitude to the Lord and their love of his family.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a sheep station makes you a sheep. Maybe there are a few goats in the church, but why let them keep you from God, and the fellowship of his flock?

The call of the Gospel is not to come to church; it is to come to Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and to hand over your life to him to make you clean. No church or minister can do that for you, only Jesus.

But once you are clean, really clean, baptized in the Holy Spirit, then you’ll be wanting to be with the Lord's people.

One of the ways Satan tries to destroy God's work is to plant seeds of doubt, of cynicism, and of carelessness about the people of God. Just remember, no one is perfect, and neither is any church. Don't make the imperfections of your congregation an excuse for your own failure to serve Jesus, but come to him in sorrow for your sin, your half-heartedness, your lack of love for his family.

Say with the tax-collector, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!