Do I need to go to church to be a Christian?

Why you need a church

Teaching that keeps you grounded in truth (Ephesians 4:11–14). People who encourage you and hold you accountable (Hebrews 3:13). A place to use your gifts (1 Peter 4:10). Shepherds who watch over your soul (Hebrews 13:17). Baptism and communion together.

Church without walls

The church is wherever believers gather in Jesus’ name (Matthew 18:20): a living room, a video call, a sanctuary. That’s why Become exists, as a church without walls. Watching online is a start, but real church means real connection: praying together, a small group that knows you, and people you walk with.

If church hurt you

That pain is real, and God sees it. People in churches can fail you, but Jesus never will. Take your time, and look for a community where the Bible is taught, people are humble, and you are known.

What the Bible says

1. 01

   Don’t neglect meeting together.

   “And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

   Hebrews 10:24–25
2. 02

   The first church.

   “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

   Acts 2:42–47
3. 03

   One body.

   “The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.”

   1 Corinthians 12:12–27
4. 04

   Where two or three gather.

   “For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.””

   Matthew 18:20
5. 05

   Built up together.

   “And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head. From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.”

   Ephesians 4:11–16
6. 06

   Members of one another.

   “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another.”

   Romans 12:4–5

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.