While it is true that a relationship with God is personal, that is, a relationship exists between God and an individual, person to person, that doesn't mean is is private or independent or autonomous. Jesus is spoken of in the New Testament as having a kingdom (John 18:36, Luke 22:30) which has citizens (Christians, Eph. 2:19, Phil. 3:20). His followers are a corporate body of many parts but unified in purpose under the one head (1 Cor. 12:12-27, Eph. 4:11-16, Col. 1:18) and must work together. The parts do not exist alone, nor function to their own end, but for the shared good. His promise from the outset was to build a church (his own, not anyone else's, Matt. 16:16-18) and to be with believers when they congregate (Matt. 18:20, 1 Cor. 5:4). He did not promise to save anyone apart from his church, but rather the New Testament states that he died for and purchased the church (Acts 20:28, Eph. 5:22-32). It is Jesus purpose and intent to add the saved together to be a body, a church, a fellowship of believers (Acts 2:41, 47, 5:14).

God's plan of salvation is not designed for Lone Rangers. Despite the very popular idea that people can be Christians inwardly without outward involvement in the church, there is no support for this idea in scripture. Rather, a great many of the commands, directions, instructions, and examples in the New Testament specifically deal with the shared lives of believers, the behavior of the assembled church, the effort of the unified disciples (1 Cor. 11:18ff, Eph. 5:19-20, Col. 3:15-16, 1 Cor. 16:1-3). A guiding principle for believers is to make evert effort to build up (edify) other believers and instruct and encourage one another (1 Cor. 14, Rom. 14:19, 15:14, 1 Thess. 4:18, 5:11, 14). Doing that requires coming together.

There is a specific injunction to make a continuing habit of meeting together as a church, with other believers: "24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb 10:24-25 NIV) Regular meetings on the first day of the week are implied from the very beginning (the day of the resurrection) as a habit of the disciples. Hebrews in fact enjoins a daily need for mutual encouragment (Hebrews 3:13).

On the question of employment that conflicts with church attendance, in most cases that is not desirable. This should be an area of real concern and careful decision making for Christians. It is clear in the foregoing scriptures and a multitude of others that there is a need to assemble regularly with the church, for our own good and the good of the body as a whole, and to please the Lord. That responsibility and need is weightier than the vast majority of other potential commitments and should be seriously considered when making those other commitments. Godly people do serve in military and police and other emergency services, but there are serious concerns and definite drawbacks to be addressed before making a decision to do any of these things.

Of course there are cliques within nearly any group of people that exceeds two. Recognizing that human failings in some ways diminish the effectiveness of the church doesn't change the purpose of the church though, or the need to work within it. If anything, that highlights the need for everyone to participate and encourage each other.

And while it is true that people can have fellowship anywhere (that is, with anyone, because broadly speaking people are in fellowship whenever they agree about anything and cooperate in it), there is a particular kind of fellowship that the Bible endorses (Acts 2:42), which is not with just anyone, but with fellow disciples of Jesus. Those disciples may be family members of course, but fellowship in the Christian sense calls for purposeful partnership (a close synonym). The need for daily encouragement may be met in some ways by reminders from a spouse or parent or other Christians relative or friend, but it's not just a matter of comradery, rather an intentional stimulation toward wholesome thinking (2 Pet. 3:1).

Why do people skip church gatherings and activities? There are many reasons. Some perceive the Sunday morning "worship service" (the hour that includes singing, praying, giving, communing, and "preaching") as an obligation to God to be fulfilled each week. I suppose that in some sense it is, but God intended it to be more than that. He didn't invent the church as a means for people to fulfill a ritual obligation once a week. People don't come to church meetings and activities because they are busy, and tired, and bored, and disinterested (all of which sound rather negative) but mostly they don't because they haven't bought into the idea that they really need it, and everyone else really needs them. It is good for us. Even when we don't particularly want it or crave it.

There's a fairly universal recognition that people ought to eat vegetables for a variety of reasons. Some people eat them because they like them. Some don't especially like them, but eat them out of a sense of duty. Some know they should but just don't want to make the effort of proper meal preparation or deal with the tastes. Some really don't get it, and don't know that they should while others don't believe the consensus. The people who eat their vegetables and like them have got the best deal, obviously. The people who don't especially like vegetables but eat them anyway get real benefits, and they're likely to grow in their tastes and enjoy more of "what's good for them" with time and experience. But the people who don't eat them, whether because they don't want to bother, or can't stand the taste, or don't believe it or don't know it, those don't get the benefit and they don't develop the taste either. And so it is also with the spiritual food that is shared when the church comes together for its various meetings and fellowship activities.