Why do we gather as a church? The answer to that question will have some bearing on how often we gather. My personal desire is to gather with the church as often as I can. I want to encourage you to do the same.
Can there be such a thing as gathering too often? Possibly. Some churches so over-schedule themselves with activities that families are never alone as a family, they are always at church. Some pastors encourage people to neglect their employment to support special meetings. Another danger is the church spends so much time together they are never seen in the community reaching out with the Gospel. But, for the sake of this article, let us assume such over-scheduling is not the case.
Before we continue let me establish this. It is not my intention to guilt-trip anyone into gathering with other believers. If you do all you can to meet with your local church then God knows.
But, what if, you could assemble more, but just choose not to? Then this is for you.
Why Do We Gather?
1. We Gather To Worship God
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
John 4:23
God has called us out of the world to worship Him. We can worship Him alone. Absolutely. But why establish the local church if worshipping alone was sufficient? When we gather to worship God as a local body of believers we fulfill a unique purpose. The New Testament gives us so many rich illustrations to explain the importance of being together. We are family (Ephesians 2:19; 3:15). We are a body (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12). We are an army (2 Corinthians 10:2-3; 2 Timothy 2:3). Many of the New Testament letters give testimony that they were intended for an assembly of saints (The Ephesians in Ephesus, the Corinthians at Corinth, the Philippians at Philippi, and so on). And even the letters to individuals have bearing on their work with a local church (Timothy at Ephesus, Philemon at Colosse, etc).
So, our gathering is commanded (Hebrews 10:25) and exemplified in the New Testament. We find it in explicit commands and we find it necessary in order to make illustrations make sense. It is vital that we gather to worship. I suggest, it is vital we gather often.
How often is enough? Once? Twice? Three times? Four? I can’t honestly say the Bible specifies a number. But I do believe that more is better.
2. We Gather to Encourage Each Other to Continue
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
We could probably find support for this point in every New Testament book. Either by explicit command or exemplified. We are pilgrims and strangers (1 Peter 2:11). We are ambassadors of Christ on Earth (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are a colony of Heaven occupying a foreign land (Philippians 3:20).
We ought to be most comfortable and comforted when we meet with our fellow believers. And, I would contend, that the New Testament pattern is meeting as a local church. Yes, meet with Christian friends. Yes, gather as Christian families. But the purpose of the gathered church is deliberate, systematic, and unique with its officers, orders, and order. We live in an era of casual, and while our churches do not need to be ostentatious or simply dead with duty and orthodoxy, neither should they be as a community BBQ. God meant for it to be something more. Something greater.
So, when we gather we have a purpose of encouraging one another in a way that we do not do in any other venue. We encourage each other to continue following Christ, sharing their faith, growing in grace and knowledge, and walking worthy of the Lord.
The process of sanctification takes a lifetime and is only completed when we received glorified bodies. Our Father looks upon us and sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When we look at one another we see a work in progress. This process of sanctification makes us radically different from who we used to be and who many in the world still are. We are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ instead of conformed to the image of the world (Romans 12:1-2).
To encourage others in such a radical transformation how often do you think others need to see you? To be encouraged, how often do you need to see others?
3. We Gather to Equip Each Other for Service
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Ephesians 4:13 (read the chapter for the vital context)
And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
Romans 15:14
One of the responsibilities of the pastor is to enable and equip others to serve. Every Christian in a local church has a gift and needs to exercise that gift in some way if the body is to function as God intended. When a part of the body isn’t working, the whole body suffers. Work goes undone or others have to work harder. God did not design the church to function by the pastor doing everything. Some churches struggle on as their pastor takes on or is forced to take on too much. The goal for a healthy, thriving church is for everyone to do their part.
If a person does serve, it is imperative they gather more than once. If they are feeding others the Word or serving in some capacity that keeps them busy from worship and receiving the Word, then when do they worship and serve as a part of an assembly of believers?
If they want to become proficient with the Word to serve then will the minimal amount of gathering suffice?
Malcolm Gladwell, the author of “Outliers”, posited that “it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials”. We can never have enough Sunday mornings or whatever the single service a person attends maybe, to reach 10,000 hours. Throw in multiple weekly services and personal devotions each day and most eventually will reach 10,000 hours of time spent deliberately with the Lord and His people.
I don’t mean to say that a person needs to prepare for 10,000 hours before they serve, but I do know that gathering often will be better than the bare minimum. If the world’s athletes, scientists, businessmen, and politicians aim to achieve 10,000 hours for their temporary work in this world, how much more should we strive for that which is done for God and that lasts for eternity?
I fear many of us receive more training for the most entry-level job than we do for things that have an impact for eternity.
The best place to be equipped for God’s service is not, or should not be, a college, seminary, university, Bible institute, podcast, tv show, or radio broadcast, but rather the local church.
Why People Don’t Gather
I won’t belabor this section and I won’t make a law where God makes none. Let me be clear, I know there are times when it is valid and even necessary to not gather with the saints. Even under the law of Moses, there was the principle of working on the Sabbath if your ox fell in a ditch.
I am not unreasonable in my expectations and hopes of people gathering with the church.
There are health reasons a person or family will miss services. There were times, especially when our children were young, that I told my wife, as her husband and pastor, that I thought it best she did not come to church. Her desire to be in church and her feeling of duty to be there resulted in her sometimes pushing herself to the brink of hurting herself just to attend. I often counseled her not to.
I know there are vocations that demand certain shifts be filled.
I know there are occasions when family gatherings occur that conflict with regularly scheduled services.
I am not unfeeling as to the realities of multiple responsibilities and desires and a finite amount of time and ability.
However, when a person does not come to church even when they could it is because they believe something else is more important or they do not see the need.
May I humbly suggest, for all the reasons above, that if this is you that you assess your priorities? If your conscience before God is clear, then I will not seek to convince you further.
Conclusion
A final word to Fathers. There are many demands on your time. There are many things you must be for your wife and children. There are many things to teach your children. But as a Christian, your priority is not your family standing in the economy, society, or community, it is to lead spiritually. Note, I did not say those things were not important, but I am saying they are not the priority according to God.
Studies reveal the importance of a father’s example.
According to data collected by Promise Keepers and Baptist Press, if a father does not go to church, even if his wife does, only 1 child in 50 will become a regular worshiper. If a father does go regularly, regardless of what the mother does, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend church as adults. If a father attends church irregularly, between half and two-thirds of their kids will attend church with some regularity as adults.
https://nickcady.org/2016/06/20/the-impact-on-kids-of-dads-faith-and-church-attendance/
Also, note how not only the father’s example but the frequency of attendance also has long-term impacts on the children,
When both parents attend Bible study in addition to the Sunday service, 72% of their children attend Sunday school when grown.
When only the father attends Sunday school, 55% of the children attend when grown.
When only the mother attends Sunday school, 15% of the children attend when grown.
When neither parent attends Sunday school, only 6% of the children attend when grown.
https://nickcady.org/2016/06/20/the-impact-on-kids-of-dads-faith-and-church-attendance/
Dads, you can afford to not teach your children many things. Not teaching them to know and walk with the Lord and assemble with God’s people is not one of them. If your faith is allowed to be only an occasional Sunday activity, then do not be surprised if for your children it one day becomes something they only used to do, not just rarely do.
Whatever you regularly substitute for church, you communicate to yourself, your children, other Christians, and God, that you believe that the other activity is more important.
Dads, there are no guarantees that our children will follow in our footsteps. If you have done your best by the grace of God then that is all He asks. It is all I know to do. We cannot undo the past, but we can determine from this moment forward what we will do differently.
In this post, I have left more unsaid than I have included. I have not shared my worst fears or the most pessimistic of statistics. Perhaps the dire consequences of not gathering I will share another day.
Please do not take any of this as harsh criticism. If you know me personally do not take this as targeted at you. This article, and things I preach, are a reflection of over 29 years as a Christian, and 20+ years of ministry, in 5 different churches across three different countries. And in speaking with hundreds of pastors around the world over that time, I can guarantee that if any of this applies to you, it is not you alone.
Receive this as one brother in Christ desiring the best for his spiritual family, as a friend seeking to help a friend, as a pastor trying to encourage his church, as a child of God desperately wanting others to join me in worship and service.
If you believe worshipping as an assembly is important; if you want to grow in grace and knowledge; if you want to be encouraged and equipped for service and do the same for others, then I submit that gathering more often, not the bare minimum, is necessary.
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