Many people use this as the “Go to church” verse:
Hebrews 10:25, MJLT
[Do] not forsak[e] the gathering of ourselves together, as is the custom of certain people…
But there is a huge aspect to this passage that you might be missing. Here’s the verse again, in fuller context:
Hebrews 10:23-25, MJLT
May we hold fast to the unwavering profession of the hope (for He who promised is faithful). And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and to good actions, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as is the custom of certain people, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day coming near.
The “gathering together” is not the main point of this passage. Rather, the author is telling us that we should gather in order to exhort and provoke one another to love and good actions, so that we will all hold fast to the faith. The gathering is not an end in and of itself, but a means to build up your fellow believers.
And note that it doesn’t say to gather so that others can provoke and exhort you—it says to gather so that you can provoke and exhort one another. When you meet with fellow believers, it should be your personal goal to exhort the believers around you, to share your faith and help them stand firm in it. The biblical imperative here is about active exhortation, not passive receiving of encouragement. “[Be] mindful of the words of the Master יֵשׁוּעַ, Yeshua that He Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35, MJLT).
I’m going to be really bold here: going to a church/congregation does not inherently fulfill the biblical imperative of Hebrews 10:25, unless you are finding ways to pour into the believers around you and exhort them with practical provocation to love and good actions. If all you do merely exist in the same building as other believers—singing to God, listening to the sermon, and tithing—but you never have meaningful interaction with other people, then you are alone in the middle of the gathering, and you are forsaking the purpose of that gathering.
So I am exhorting you today, to reconsider how you participate in your local believing community. Try to find ways to build real relationships with other believers, where you can speak into their lives with exhortation, and you open yourself up to personal exhortation as well.
Don’t show up at a building so that you can receive. Reach out into people’s lives so that you can give. And in this way, we will all hold fast to the profession of our faith, together.