Church People: Go to Church #2 - It's Habit-Forming

I said earlier that traditional church is a "one-stop shop". In cruder terms, it's a way to "check the boxes" - serve, sing, learn, fellowship, pray, etc. Traditional church offers opportunity for these things. (Lest I sound legalistic, note that I am not a proponent of "Sunday Christians" who put on a show one day a week!)

Here's another reason I believe being part of a local church body is better than solely being part of the "universal church":

Church is habit-forming.

I'm too lazy to look up the newest statistics on "15 days of consistency makes a habit" (is it 12 days now? or 30?). But readers know what I mean.

You can't go through life doing things that are good for you only when you feel like it.

Daily devotions. An exercise plan. Diets.

Whatever your goal is, you need to get past the "I don't feel like it" thing if you want to succeed. That means turning it into a habit - and not just a habit, but a way of life. It becomes part of you.

If you've ever berated yourself in your Christian walk for not praying enough, not reading your Bible enough, not learning, etc....you have probably found, as I have, how difficult it is to keep up good spiritual habits.

And I believe one of the best spiritual habits is a weekly Sunday service. No, it's not the service itself: that hour simply gets your head in the game. You can be reminded of your spiritual responsibilities while remembering that because of Jesus, you have grace for neglecting them.

It's something about the discipline of being at a specific place at a specific time. I can procrastinate Bible reading and "devotions", but the church service won't wait for me.

This is Wiggle begging me to stay home. How can I resist?

Confession: I wish I could say the anticipation of being around God's people is always enough to pop me out of bed, but it's not. Sometimes it's sheer habit (or sheer coffee) that makes me gently lift my cat off my lap and get dressed on a Sunday morning.

And it is a habit that has benefited me whether I like church or not.

It still remains to be seen (blogged about) whether traditional church is inherently a good thing - but we'll get there. 

I do want to give a voice to arguments about modern local churches versus the days of the early church.  It's a huge topic that involves church activities, denominations, leadership, and where the money goes.

Someday those posts will come! Maybe.