You raise some very pertinent questions here, and I thought I might chime in my opinion from a different perspective. First off, I don't go to church anymore, and I haven't for more then a year. I have at various points in my life though, for extended periods of time. When I was going to church, I was very involved with small groups and missions and just people in general. I felt like I was developing some great friendships with some genuine people that love God just like me. I really enjoyed that part of "church" - not necessarily the "building" or the "attending weekly" parts. However, that doesn't mean that I did not have several thoughts or questions about the honesty and lack of it in people sometimes.

However, many times things happen and we make decisions that ultimately effect the rest of our lives. I made one to stop attending church, and to eventually find a new church home. However, three years later here I am, still not attending church. I think that the hardest thing for me was losing touch with the people that I trusted and would understand and be there for me the most. There was only one single person that ever asked me how I was doing or whether I had found a new church - kind of disheartening considering that I put years of my life into this "church", only to leave and realise that the friendships I had were simply "fake".

I believe that not attending church has greatly hindered me from growing in my relationship with God. I honestly still talk to him about as much as I did when I was in church, I still study Gods word from time to time, and I think I am basically the same Christian I always have been. However, the key here is that I know for a fact that I have not grown or progressed in my walk with God. I do not have close friendships with other Christians that can keep and hold me accountable for things. I do however still listen to sermons online a few times a week to hear some scripture and thoughts on it, and I even give to those churches that I do listen in to but not on a consistent basis like I should.

Overall, I would say that once you come to the point where you have the mindset of "Why bother going to church", you should seek out God more then ever before. Church can be very frustrating at times, but it is necessary and helpful to develop friendships and relationships with other God-loving people, to help further yourself along the path to leading a God-Filled life. The longer that you stop attending church, the harder it is to go back. I cannot tell you how many times I have told myself that this will be the weekend I start looking for a church to attend, and then I fail time and time again. Mostly because I dont know people there and I just quite frankly dont want to hurt the way that I did after realizing that the people I thought were my friends and would be there for me really were not - especially when I needed them the most.

My advice would be to always be active in a church, and to never get into the mindset that you dont need church to lead a God-filled life. Sure, you can Love God, have faith in him, and probably go to heaven one day. But, if you really Love God, then why wouldn't you want to follow the principles about going to church as set forth in the bible?
 

Seth,
you really spoke to my heart on this one :)
 

That was a very candid (and very true) response, seth. Thank you.

I would like to also echo seth's words here and say that although you may not lose your Christianity or even your salvation from not attending church, you DEFINITELY don't gain. It's like having the free opportunity to have your life enriched and simply not choosing it. That feeling of not wanting to go to church or feeling like church is a waste is just satan's way of tricking us out of something that will truly benefit us eternally.
 

Enemy occupied territory - that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going." -C.S. Lewis

This quote would be much longer if I included all the good stuff Lewis has to say about this topic...he goes on to say that Satan will use anything he can, to get us away from fellowship with other believers. Laziness, shame, hurt, questions, our mood, illness, how many excuses can we come up with? Thinking of church in that light has helped me drag myself to church when I don't feel like it, knowing that me not feeling like it is simply another tool that I COULD hand over to the enemy, for him to easily use against me. Who in their right mind hands tools to their enemy???? Well...certainly it sounds silly, but it is a discipline to keep those tools out of his hands.
 

I don't attend because of the politics and the constant expectation to be who you're not.

Unlike the biblical definition of a church, today's definition is littered with thousands of years of Man changing what God created to be good into something that Man can have control over.

It's kind of like going to a party of acquaintances and you have to put the best foot forward, otherwise there will be some judgements made (and no one can deny this because we have all done it). It has become a 'play' of sorts where the 'real' is not allowed. The accountability is superficial and so are the friendships. Seth, you know what I'm talking about...

I do understand that people NEED to be there, for one reason or another. I am not in a position to deny anyone that opportunity. However, if we look at the whole bible, especially in the OT and also in the NT focusing on how Jesus related to God, there is this concept of 'walking with God' that was always present. The conditions of this 'walk' was not relegated to a group but to individuals, for example - Abraham, David, the Prophets, John the Baptist, Paul, and of course, Christ (this list even includes Mary, Jesus' mom). In all these prominent names in the bible the thing they all had in common was their personal relationship with God outside of the group sense.

Let's talk about convictions.

conviction

noun
1. an unshakable belief in something without need for proof or evidence

This is an interesting word. It is confusing at best until you look at the root...

Origin:
1400–50; late ME < LL convictiōn- (s. of convictiō) proof (of guilt).

In this context to use the word conviction is to profess guilt. As it should. When I speak about how Jesus died in my behalf on the cross, I am convicted by it because I do deserve to be the one to be punished for my sins. However, I do speak with conviction when I talk about how Jesus died for me because I know what I did and I know what he did for me because of the things I did. Therefore, I have great conviction in my belief that he saved me based on the previous facts: I know what I did, and I know what he had to go through to save me---and I am grateful.

Now, let's go to good news...

There is only one ultimate good news, the gospel.

Hurray, God loves me so much that he sent his own son to die in place of me!

There are so many things that could spring from this news that is so very relevant to my life every single day!

The dog poo'd on the carpet... on the one side, I could be pissed about it. On another, I could just clean it up without the drama and just appreciate that this dog is in my life because God allowed it and I need to see this dog with as much love as God sees me with, especially when He is wiping my own shit with the blood soaked rags that Jesus was wearing on the way to the cross.

This gospel thing is the main point. And I will be very surprised if God actually put limitations on Convictions and Good News'es to be present only in a congregation of believers or a structure made up of stone and wood (or aluminun and concrete and steel and stuff). We are supposed, nay, designed, to experience God in all creation. Think about that for a minute... no, seriously.

not done yet...I have to go to a meeting...
 

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
C. S. Lewis

This really sums everything up as far as any issues about churches.

K, I'm done.