July 23rd, 2025

Steven’s Scribbles
“Why Do I Need the Church?”
Eph. 1:22-23
I’ve been thinking about a common objection I often hear when people are confronted with the need to attend the assembling of the church. Now, to be clear—I’m not talking about those wayward members who know where they need to be but are dealing with personal struggles like shame, embarrassment, or fear. That’s a different conversation. I’m referring to the unchurched—those who don’t see any real need for the church.


More than once, I’ve heard someone say, “Why do I need to go to church? I’m a good person. I give to the needy. I worship Jesus in my own time and in my own way.”
There are several problems with those objections, but the most obvious is this: no one is good. Jesus Himself said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). Paul echoes the same truth: “There is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), and “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
So, why do you need to “go to church”?
Because you’re not good, and you need Jesus.
And where is Jesus? He’s in His body, the church (Ephesians 1:22–23).
When someone is saved—washed in the blood of Christ through obedience to the gospel—they’re added to the church (Acts 2:47). They are transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son, where there is redemption from sin, which is the church (Colossians 1:13–14). That’s not a building; that’s a people—the called out, the ekklesia.
We are also called to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16).
Holy means set apart.
When we’re added to the church, the Lord sets us apart for His purposes.
So yes--we need God, we need Jesus, and we even need His bride, the church (Ephesians 5:25–27). You can’t claim to love Jesus and reject His bride.
He died for the church.
And I need to live in it.
I love you all!
In His Service,
Steven Hugley