1. Church Attendance
January 3, 2010
Developing a Deeper Community
A husband and his wife woke up one Sunday morning and the wife began to get dressed for church. It was just about time for the service when she noticed her husband wasn’t ready and hadn’t even gotten out of bed. Perplexed, she asked, “Why aren’t you getting dressed for church?” He said, “I don’t want to go.” She asked, “Do you have any reasons?” He said, “Yes, I have three good reasons. First the congregation is cold. Second, no one likes me. And third, I just don’t want to go.” The wife replied, wisely, “Well honey, I have three reasons why you should go. First the congregation is warm. Second, there are a few people there who like you. And third, you’re the pastor! So get dressed!”
I am sure we have all had those days where we wake up on a Sunday morning and just want to stay home. After a long week without enough sleep it can certainly be tempting to just snooze through church, Sunday is after all one of two days you might actually be able to sleep in. I think there are a lot of people who wonder what going to church has to do with having a relationship with God. Haven’t you ever wondered how your church attendance relates to your Spiritual life? For a long time the answer the church gave for this was poor. They bullied and guilt tripped people into being there every week and created this idea that your relationship with God is essentially based on your church attendance. Not only then was there this conception that if you attended church you would be saved but in the eyes of some that was all you needed to do to be saved. People are like a pendulum, when things push to far one way they react by pushing back too far the other way. So in reaction to this incorrect focus on church attendance which improperly connected attendance to salvation people now have begun rebelling against organized religion and going to church at least regularly.
The problem with so many is a priority problem. They get so busy that they allow there relationship with the church to get pushed aside so they can spend more time at the lake, watching movies, working, sleeping in or things of the like. There are those out there who look at the church like another form of entertainment. It is something to do on Sunday morning and if it is more exciting than any other offer I will go but if there is something better then that will be what I do. Some people feel you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. They are right. You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian any more than a fish has to live in water to be fish. Can a fish still be a fish if it’s not in the water? It sure can, it wont take long for it to be a dead fish but still a fish. A few years ago some statistics were taken that showed 90% of America claims to be Christian. Yet only 39% of American’s claimed to attend church and that was not even necessarily to say their attendance was regular. In our culture there are a great number of Christians who are in the habit of not meeting together. This habit has generated some unnecessary hardships in our lives. Please turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 10:19. In this passage our author is writing to a group of people not all that different from us. It is apparent that there are people in the church then that had begun to slip away from their relationship with the church and were forsaking the community. So our author writes this to them:
Heb 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, Heb 10:20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, Heb 10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, Heb 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Heb 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Heb 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Heb 10:25 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.
It is easy to view Christianity as just another religion asking for you to accept and to attend. Indeed this seems to be the problem the Hebrews’ were dealing with in the early church. It would seem they had Christians who were living without the supporting community of the church because they had failed to understand its proper significance and role in their lives. Some had begun to neglect their connection to the community and this is a dangerous road to walk down. Verse 26 continues:
Heb 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, Heb 10:27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Heb 10:28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Heb 10:29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? Heb 10:30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” Heb 10:31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This tells us of the danger of what will often happen when we give up meeting together. When we neglect our relationship with the church we often times fall into the sins of our past. When we make this choice and keep on sinning we are spitting in Jesus face and insulting the sacrifice He made for us. I don’t mean to say that failing to attend church is to keep on sinning, but that when we fail to commit ourselves to the church a common result is that we keep on sinning. This can and sometimes will result in a full out rejection of God’s grace and ultimately can lead to our own destruction. We need to make sure we stay connected with the church for when we fail to do so we bring trouble on ourselves. I am not saying our church attendance is a salvational issue but it is a significant one.
There is a real danger that comes when we neglect meeting together as the community of Christ. When we fail to be a regular part of the church or get in the habit of attending but not building real relationships we are basically putting ourselves outside of the church. Outside of the church we are at greater risk for sin. Have you ever noticed that when a lion is stalking a herd of gazelle the one he goes after is usually the one that breaks away from the herd? When we neglect our relationship with the church we make ourselves more vulnerable to sin. Outside of the church we are more susceptible to temptation because we lack the same accountability. Outside the church we are more prone to doubt and to drift from our beliefs. Outside of the church we experience unnecessary hardships and fail to receive the true support that comes from being a part of the community. Perhaps most importantly, outside the church we fail to receive the fullness of the blessing of God in our lives. I don’t believe that God will make us all healthy and rich in this life. I do believe however that God desires to bless those who are faithful with what He has entrusted them. Jesus gives us the church for a reason. If we cannot even be faithful to what Jesus has already given us then why should He entrust us with more? When we fail to invest ourselves in the church we disqualify ourselves from many of the blessings God may seek to give us. The church has a purpose and we should not neglect it in our lives.
I am reminded of this story about a man who had missed church for a number of weeks. The minister had often called him and asked where he was, but the man kept putting the minister off. Finally, one day, the minister stopped by for a visit on a cold winter day. The man was sitting in front of his fireplace and welcomed the preacher and tried to engage him in conversation. The minister remained silent. He just walked over to the fireplace, pulled one of the logs away from the flame and then went and sat down. They sat there in silence for awhile just watching the fire. As they watched the log that sat off by itself they noticed the fire on it began to smolder and then it went out. The preacher and the man sat for a long time looking into the fireplace. Finally the man broke the silence and said "OK, I’ll be at church next Sunday."
Away from church you are more likely to fall into sin and to go back to your old way of life before you were a Christian. It is difficult enough to stay on course in this life when we help support each other. When we go off on our own drifting is almost a guarantee. As we begin to distance ourselves from the church through absence or just failing to connect and build deeper relationships when we are here we often begin to distance ourselves from God in the process. It doesn’t take long for that drifting to get us off course and ultimately for us to become truly lost. Not only do you need church for your personal growth and relationship with God, the church needs you. God has uniquely gifted each of us to play an important role in His kingdom and community. Without you we are missing resources that we need.
In a godless world the church is our most tangible and often person connection with God. God desires us to be a part of His church that is why He gave it to us, the fullness of the Spirit of God is plural it does not rest on us as individuals but on us as a church, it is only when God’s people meet together in community that the fullness of His Spirit and His gifts can be received. That however also requires unity which comes from His people building relationships with each other.
Don’t you see, we are in this together. Our lives are not separate we are joined by a common hope, purpose, joy, life, and Savior. We who have experienced the joy of Jesus and the richness of His blessing have been called to the same mission, we have the same goals and the same reason for accomplishing them. For the God that gives us all the same eternal life calls us to join together. It is not good then for us to treat our lives as individuals and to pull away from the community of the church. We need to invest in each other for we are called by the same God to do the same work and to do it together.
How often do we seek God’s will in our lives? Ever feel like you get the answer? Often times God does not give us the specifics until we get the general things right. If we are not faithful with the big picture why should God entrust us with the details. Notice that Jesus did not send the disciples out until He had trained them. He did not give them the commission and His specific purpose for their lives until they had first gotten the big things right. Until we have proven faithful with the few things God will not entrust us with the many. If we fail to get general areas of faithfulness down in our lives why would God entrust us with specific ones? You want to know what God’s will is in your life you need to get the general things down. One of the more important general investments we make in our lives is the investment in the community of the church. This is in many cases the place where people will hear or find God’s specific call in their lives.
Can you be a Christian without going to church? It is impossible to answer. A true Christian will desire to go to church because when you truly have a relationship with God you naturally desire a relationship with His people. When we feel the touch of God on our lives and realize Jesus sacrifice for sins and the price He paid for us we naturally respond by wanting to be around others who have experienced that same joy. We seek to find those who can help guide us and show us how to grow closer to Jesus in response to His love we naturally desire more. The church is a gift and we should treasure it. More importantly however we should be it. We need to be the church by investing not just in ourselves but in others. The church cannot really be the church until we engage in community with each other and invest in the world around us. We gather together in this place so that together we can find the strength to go out and show the world the love of God. Don’t be confused-church isn’t what you are supposed to do church is what gives you the strength to do what you need to do. The church is a gas station. It is not where you end up it is the place you go to get the fuel you need to make it to your destination. As the church we need to join together faithfully and consistently so we can go out into the world and show them the love of Jesus.
