The simplest, most superficial way to answer this question is to ask, “What is the basis of our salvation or of being a Christian, and does it include church attendance?” Let us recall Paul’s well-known declaration in Ephesians 2:8–9 that we are “saved by grace through faith” and not “by works.” In other words, the basis of our being Christian or being saved is the grace of God received through faith. It is not based on any work such as church attendance.
However, there is another way to consider this question, which reveals that the question as it is commonly phrased likely misses the point. The question assumes that church is a place where I go or an event I attend. Biblically speaking, church is who you are. It is the people. That is, if you are a Christian or “saved,” you are the church. It is an identity and a membership. What we call “going to church” is better understood in the language of Hebrews 10:25 as “the gathering together” of the church.
The New Testament writers illustrated this principle using two metaphors: the body and the temple.
In 1 Corinthians 12:12–31, the Apostle Paul uses the metaphor of the body to correct the Corinthians’ tendency to see their expression of faith as their own (particularly in the exercise of spiritual gifts). He says, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ,” (v. 12, NIV). He goes on to describe the absurdity of different body parts declaring that they have no need of the others — for example, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’” (v. 21). He concludes, “Now, you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (v. 27). If this is true, then our question about whether we need to go to church misses the point. We are the church, and as individual members of it, it would be absurd for us to say to the rest, “I don’t need you!”
In 1 Peter 2:4–10, the Apostle Peter uses the metaphor of a “spiritual house” or the temple. He says that Jesus is “the living stone” whose followers are “living stones…being built into a spiritual house,” (v. 5). Peter sees the church as the people, and these people exist to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (v. 9).
Thus, our question misses the point — once again — by assuming: “Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Look inside and see all the people.” More accurately, we should say, “See all the people? There is the church. There is the steeple.” We are the church, and as bricks, we miss the point if we say that we are greater on our own than together. There is something God is doing with his people, and we are meant to be a part of that project — not existing all alone.