“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT)
The above verses were written approximately 2,000 years ago. Would it be safe to assume the Lord’s coming is closer now than when those words were originally written? Similarly, why would we believe it’s any less important now to meet together than then? And yes, I understand we have the internet and FACETIME and group chats and all of the other electronic means we have to “gather,” but NONE will accomplish what face to face presence will.
God’s intention in giving us the command to meet together, for worship, for fellowship, for discipling, and to build friendships, wasn’t so we could check a box, it was to build community in much the same way as families grow as they spend time together. Some of the highlights of my family memories are times spent with extended family, playing together, eating together, worshipping together on special occasions.
Imagine having someone who wants to spend time with you, to build a friendship, but they say, “I really like you and would love to be your friend, but I hate your family. Your husband smells and your kids are out of control. Even your dog makes me feel like I need a bath when I’ve been around it.” How quickly would you be to jump into a friendship like that?
And even if you would, God wouldn’t! He allowed His only, perfect, sinless, Son to die for the sins of mankind for the express purpose of building a Family, the Family of God, the Church universal comprised of every blood-washed one who has yielded their life and allegiance to Jesus. And of His “Family” He says in Ephesians 5:25-27: “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s Word. He did this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.”
We’re so prone to simply believe Christ died for each of us as individual sinners, and, in a sense, He did. But God’s thoughts are far above our thoughts, as we tend to be very selfish, self-focused, and self-absorbed to the point we seldom consider He didn’t die for us to walk in newness of life alone. In some ways that’s like bringing a new lamb into the world and leaving it to make it on its own. How do you spell “wolf bait”?
The church isn’t a religious organization, it’s a family in which “newborns” are nourished, cared for, nurtured, and trained to be active and productive contributors of the family. There’s a sense in which our life in Christ isn’t about ourselves, it’s about our part in the Body. As an arm wouldn’t function if separated from the human body, we can’t function properly, as God desires, apart from our function within our spiritual Body.
We want to treat attendance at church like AA meetings, helpful, but not mandatory, when, in fact, it’s like coming to family dinner when we’re starving. It’s not an obligation to be kept, it’s a privilege to be honored. There’s no such thing in Scripture as a “Lone Ranger” believer. We’re a part of the Body or we’re an outcast. Yes, of course, people stray from the fold, but it’s our God-given responsibility to bring them back as best we can. It’s not unlike following after a literal child or family member who is estranged. We do whatever we can to bring them back, but in the meantime, we stay faithful to our loved ones who haven’t strayed.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 