1. Why do you go to church?
Is it because that is what your parent do or did? Is it because that is where you can meet "nice" people? So you can increase your social life and have a community to belong to? Is it because that is where you can go to have your conscience appeased about the many wrongs that you feel guilty for? People go to church for many different reasons, but there are only a few that are the right reasons.
All of these things have described me in one way or another at one time or another.
Church is about Jesus. It is about worshiping him, praising him, and learning to become more like him, experiencing life to the full that can only come through him. It is about doing these things alongside others who believe this also. For there is one body, and we were all baptized into that one body (Eph 4, Rom 6). We cannot have Christ without His body, those who church hop or simply have a "me and Jesus" understanding do not know the scriptures (or are not being obedient to them).
2. Why are you a part of the particular church you attend?
Is it because it is the most entertaining and self-fulfilling church you could find? Perhaps it is because it is the most convenient and the closest to your house with the shortest commute? Perhaps it has the greatest preacher, or singers, or worship band, or lighting and effects? There are many problems with this way of thinking when it comes to attending church. With an smorgasbord of church options in America, people attend a particular church over another for various reasons, but there are only a few right reasons.
It is HIS body. Not ours.
Not ours for our selfish consumption as though we were in the competitive marketplace of church, to suit our own particular fancy (for more on that see Consumer Gospel) as if we were deciding on which cell phone we wanted to buy next. There is only ONE church (Eph 4) and it is the one that Jesus died to establish, not the one that we decide is the most attractive.
The right reasons to attend a particular church over another is not about your personal preferences, but where you can authentically and soundly pursue your faith biblically in the midst of a community. Seriously, ask yourself:
What if your church ceased to exist tomorrow for whatever reason, where would you go to church next week?
Would you go anywhere? Why?
How long would it take you to commit to a local church community?
What criteria would you be using to make your decisions for you and your family? What scriptures would guide you decision?
Have you ever left a church because of personal preferences? What do you think God feels about that? What scriptures would guide your thinking?
Under what circumstances do you think someone should leave a local church body? What scriptures would guide your thinking?