Going to Church
Part One - Guard Your Steps
Ecclesiastes 5v1a
13th February 2026
Sometimes people ask me what "sort" of church I go to: "denominational", "independent", "charismatic", "traditional", "free", "liturgical", whatever? The answer I want to give, and the answer we should all be able to give, is that I'm a member of a Biblical church. Several passages in the Bible tell us what a church should be like, and we should attend to what they teach us.
What is your experience of church? Do you think of "going to church" or of "being the church"? Whatever "style" of worship you church prefers, the writer of Ecclesiastes, usually thought to be King Solomon of Israel, writing in the 10th century before Christ, gives us these guidelines:
Ecclesiastes 5v1-7
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.
Go near to listen
rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they
do wrong.
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to
utter anything before God.
God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the
speech of a fool.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfil it. He has no
pleasure in fools; fulfil your vow.
It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfil it.
Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the
temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at
what you say and destroy the work of your hands?
Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
The church is the house of God (Ephesians 2v22, 1 Peter 2v5). Since a church is people, not a building, there is a sense in which Christians are always "in the house of God" but let's think specifically about when the church is together, worshipping our Lord. The first principle of church attendance is:
Ecclesiastes 5v1a
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.
In modern English, we would say "watch your step". Be careful when you go to church. In our generation, many churches try to make church welcoming and relatable. These are very good things, but we should take care to ensure that going to church is not done lightly or carelessly. We should always approach God respectfully.
We go to church to meet with each other, and to encourage each other, and to encourage ourselves, but primarily we go to worship God. Church is God's house, not ours. When we come together before our Creator, Redeemer and Lord, we should remember who He is and act accordingly. It's true that we can approach the throne of grace with boldness, with confidence (Hebrews 4v16) but we should also approach Him with reverence.
Here are some examples of what I mean. When you read these you might think I'm being old-fashioned but some old ideas are good. You might think I'm being fussy, but we shouldf give God all the honour we can. You might think I'm being judgemental, but we should Guard [our] steps when [we] go to the house of God.
- In some churches, especially charismatic churches (in my experience) several church members arrive late. I know things can happen that make lateness unavoidable; the car can break down, or a sick neighbour may need help. But some church members arrive late most weeks. That is disrespectful to God, isn't it? It's better to arrive late than not to arrive at all, but with a bit of thought most of us can usually arrive on time. It's better to be at church a few minutes early, to greet some of our brothers and sisters, and to prepare our hearts for worship.
- In some churches, people come to church in the sort of clothes they might war to do the gardening. I'm aware that some people can't afford good-quality clothes, and they should be welcomed in whatever clothes they have, of course. However, some people who own perfectly good jackets, shirts, trousers and shoes, come to church in t-shirts, jeans and trainers. Perhaps they're making a statement that all are welcome, which is certainly true, but the "come as you are" message can be overemphasised to the point where God is disrespected.
- Some church members sing worship to God with their hands in their pockets.
- Some church members refuse to sing worship songs they don't like. Of course we can't sing songs that we believe to be untrue or disrespectful to God, but our sense of what constitutes a well-written lyric or a good tune should not stand between us and our worship of almighty God.
- Some church members are still chatting to one another after the meeting is due to start.
- Some worship leaders act as if they're giving a performance, more than offering worship to God.
I expect you can find other examples.
Finally, and most importantly, this week, we should do our best to ensure our hearts are right before God, before the meeting starts, shouldn't we? I suggest we arrive early enough to be able to take a few minutes to be quiet before our Lord, to still ourselves, so we're ready to join in worship with the right attitude.
None of this should be any sort of reason not to attend church. However, there are very good reasons to worship God as respectfully as we can:
Romans 11v33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?"
"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
May we never forget who God is, especially when meeting with His people to worship Him.