One thing I don't get

This is one of those things that I just don't get. And since it's reoccurring, I thought I'd ask a larger audience.

It comes up whenever Jim is gone and I'm not. Or when we're both gone but get back a bit early on a Sunday.

The expectation that we will attend services at our church. And the, what seems to me, extreme disappointment if we don't.

If Jim isn't here I go elsewhere. Why? Because I love praise and worship music. I really do. It brings out the free feeling let's just praise God and dance before him stuff that is in me. Yes, I like hymns...but praise music just goes a bit deeper for me.

Our church doesn't do praise and worship music. It is very hymn oriented, and I don't mind that at all. I love singing the hymns. They are filled with good stuff. So don't misunderstand me. I don't dislike hymns, I love them, but I, oh, how I love good praise and worship music.... there's just something about it that I just, in someways, crave in singing praise to my God.

So... when Jim's not here I take that as an opportunity to go "get my fix!". To just go to a church where other folks are singing praise and worship music well and just be able to openly praise God with them doing it. Much different than singing by oneself at home.

Why doesn't Jim attend our church when 'off'? Well....because church is work. It's not like people forget that he's pastor and just chat with him like any other fellow. It's work. People don't come up to him and say...so Jim, how was your week? It's pastor, how are you, what did you think of the sermon, and are you coming for a visit this week and so on ......

So when he's off, he likes to be elsewhere so that he's completely off. When folks who work outside the church are away they don't go to their jobs either do they? Or if they do their co-workers will generally say (with complete shock)...what are you doing here? Same principle. When one is off, one likes to be completely off.

This insistence that people have to go to their home church whenever they are in the neighbourhood is one that I simply do not understand. Why does it make someone a bad church member if they visit other churches instead of always attending their home congregation? As long as one is giving to their home church materially, physically, etc.... then what does it matter if one chooses to worship elsewhere 4-6 times a year?

Can someone help me understand this?

Does it really matter to God?

Please, if someone can truly help me understand this, it would be nice. Even if I continue to disagree, would be nice to understand it a bit better.