In our last article, we saw in Heb 10:25 that the most
basic way that we can develop love in the Christian community is by “not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” that is, we have to be
together in order to love and encourage one another. We cannot neglect Sunday gatherings. Church attendance has to be one of the
highest priorities in the Christian’s life.
The preacher even puts some on the spot with, “as is the
manner of some.” He is saying, You! Yea, you!
Those of you who have sporadic attendance, you are not only hurting your
own spiritual life, but you are actually sabotaging the health of the whole
church.
It had become commonplace for some of those believers to
seldom attend church times, and we are experiencing the same predicament in
many American congregations. While we
may think that things have changed, that our culture is too fast-paced, and that
these demands are too strenuous for modern believers, we should be aware that
this is nothing new. In the early days
of the church, Christians were expected to gather together regularly, and when
many abandoned the assembly, they were called out. Christians are to be holy, that is,
different. It is not too much to ask
that believers gather consistently. We
go to work and school every day. We have
our own hobbies that we do not desert.
We take our kids to their extracurricular activities each week without
fail. Why would we not give, at the very
least, the same kind of commitment to the Lord and our brothers and sisters in
Christ?
The Hebrews audience may have been discouraged from
attending church gatherings due to persecution, the delay of the second coming,
divided loyalties to church and synagogue, a sense of superiority,
short-sightedness, laziness, simple dulling over time, or by outright
indifference. Whatever the reason, the
preacher makes clear that their neglect is not good. There are many excuses today for lack of
church attendance. Some are more
legitimate than others. For example, one
author has said, “[S]ome people have not found within our churches the warmth,
care and concern for which they hoped [so] they have turned away” (Brown,
187). That may be a legitimate excuse
but should be carefully considered. Have
we prayed for unity? Have we, ourselves,
worked toward the type of community that we would like to experience in our
church? In my humble opinion, very few
excuses actually hold up under honest scrutiny.
Let’s not allow lack of attendance to be our habit.