“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”

- John 14:6.

I must begin by saying, I am extremely thankful for the home I grew up in and the church family I was raised with. I was blessed with a family who loved God, friends who also knew Jesus, and a church who was more like a family. The community is like no other, and I will always respect and admire the values within that church. I was overwhelmingly blessed, and cherish my childhood memories because of it.

Nevertheless, I have decided to chase after God, not the rules of a religion.

Church no longer remains the foundation of my relationship with Christ, rather, Christ is the foundation of my relationship. I used to attend church, put my few hours in trying not to fall asleep, and then return home. I considered this “good enough”, and wasn’t inclined to pursue a personal relationship with Christ. Church was my crutch for being able to call myself a Christian, and I never knew the love of God on a personal level. I thought I could slip by, just like so many other people do.

It wasn’t until I stopped going to church that I found God for myself. It wasn’t until then that I could praise His names at all times of the day, until I could cry with Him in the car listening to praise, talk with Him at work when it got overwhelming, talk about Him to others like the best friend that He is. He gave me a new heart, one that was only revealed when I chased after Christ instead of trying to keep rules straight.

I found freedom, and there is nothing more refreshing than the freedom to follow Christ unrestricted. If I don’t feel up to going to church one week, I don’t go. Because my relationship will not waver and I will not feel guilty as I used to. Church should be a resource, not the very source where we feed our guilty conscious. If that’s the reason we go to church, then we are missing the purpose and we are missing the center of our relationship, which should be Christ and nothing else.

Church is not our saving grace, and going to church will not grant us a place in Heaven.

We must first fall in love with Christ before all else, whatever that may look like for you. Maybe you prefer to praise God hiking in the mountains, or serving others in a homeless shelter, or even participating in small groups at school. Find Christ first, and the desire to go to church may (or may not) come second. It should be a personal decision and something you feel God leads you to, rather than something you are dragged to. For many, myself included, the desire to attend church does press on our hearts as we grow in Christ.

Soon the craving for deep conversation with other followers will come, and church is a resource for that. We will desire community, fellowship, and a family in Christ. Church will become a place that we long to go, but it should not be crucial to the survival of our relationship with God. It should be a place where we gather willingly and openly, where we can confide in others and feel ourselves being challenged. Keep Christ at the center, and put your personal relationship with Him first. All else will come second, and will fall into place as your relationship grows roots and deepens in Christ.