Do I Need To Go To Show Up?

I often wonder why we are told by our church leaders that we must come to church. I know all the arguments for and against. I have lived in cities where it was difficult to find the right church....I have worked long hours and am tired on Sunday mornings...I 'dont like' those people...etc...

I also know all the arguments for why we must go to church...we can't really worship alone...cant worship on the golf course...and the verse in Scripture that says "Do not forsake the gathering together ...."

Following is a quote from a book I read this week that spoke to my heart - speaking about this issue...makes sense to me....

Pg 53…."if Israel entered into covenant relationship with Yahweh, Israel would pledge Himself to live from that time on as a community. God wished to make a covenant not with individuals but with a people, a people united by a common obedience to Him. There is no such thing in the Bible as a purely individual relationship to God, and those who would enter into covenant with the Lord must do so much as a part of His community. Only by sharing a common life with other believers could each Israelite serve His God. He could not ignore or hate his fellow and at the same time love His Lord.

…the basis of this community was not to be the will of man, but the transcendent will of God. God made the laws for communal life, He set up its structure, He ordered the relationship between members of society. The last six of the Ten Commandments therefore deal with relationship between men…and are seen as expressions of the will of God for His people. Only as far as God ruled over the communal life was it a true expression of his covenant will."

(The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith – 1962 Paul J. and Elizabeth Achtemeier – Fortress Press Philadelphia)