Why go to church?

The question has been asked, “Why should we go to church?” and this question really goes beyond anything having to do with convenience or taste.  With a hearty rejection of evolution and the concept of reality as mere accident, most people embrace some sort of belief in the divine.  So the question then must be asked, “What does this divine being require of us?”  The objective truth of the historicity of the Eastern Orthodox Church strongly answers with “communion.”  God created man to be in communion with him.  He did not create man because he needed to do so.  God already enjoyed perfect union and communion within himself as the Trinity, three persons in one.  But God chose to create man so that more beings could enjoy that perfect union/communion.  Man’s sinful proclivities cause him to desire things that are contrary to and destructive to his person.  When we are involved in the worship of God in the Divine Liturgy, we are slowly being healed and brought back into right relation with God.  Going to church is for our benefit.  It is a sign of our immaturity and lack of understanding that we would resist being in a loving relationship with our creator and sustainer.  So to answer the question, “Why go to church?” we answer, “Because that is what we were made for, to be in union with God in the environment that he has established.”