From Vatican II, “What the faithful have received…in the celebration of the Eucharist should have its effect on their way of life…everyone who has participated in the mass should be eager to do good works”. This extract from Vatican II means that just going to church is not enough; we have got to behave in a caring way.
Christians are called to be “imitators of Christ” in the gospels of Thomas a Kempis. This means that we should do the things that Jesus did, such as care for the poor.
At the end of Mass the priest says “go in peace to love and to serve the lord”, this means that once the mass is over we have to go out into the world & behave in the way God would want us to, this doesn’t say anything about having to go to mass to serve the Lord.
Some people might think you do have to go to church to be a good Christian.
Some people might think that Gathering together as Christian community helps us grow in faith & imitates the practice of the Early Christians- Acts 2:46. People may believe that good Christians should do as the first Christians did
The first commandment is “worship no God but me- this is what we do at church-worship God, people who don’t go to church may never worship god.
At mass you hear the word of God (bible readings) and the priest explains it to us in the sermon/homily telling us what to do. Without this guidance we may not know what to do in order to be a good Christian.
Going to church is the only way that we can receive the sacraments, unless you are bed-ridden in which case they can be brought to you. Going to mass is the only way we receive the body and blood of Christ and this could make some believe that you are a bad Christian if you don’t go church.
Church life through the year recalls and celebrates Jesus’ life, helping us to recall significant events in his life, e.g. his birth in the Christmas period and his death in the Easter period. Without these reminders we may be led to forgetting these important events, which could lead some to call you a bad Christian.
I personally don’t think you should have to go to church to be a good Christian. I think that if you lead a good life and do as God would want then you can be a good Christian. You don’t really need to go to church to know how to be a good Christian; most of us are taught when we are young and if we aren’t then a bible is available from basically every bookstore in the world and in the bible we are taught the basic principles of being a good Christian.