Attendance
All Christians know that their attendance is required on the Lord's Day. Hebrews 10:25 says, "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together..." The author links this with the Lord's Day for in verse 29, he warns those who "...count the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing..."
But what about Wednesday night when we get together? Is it mandatory that we attend? There is no direct commandment to meet on another day and some Christians have a mindset that 'unless I have a direct command, I choose not to assemble.' Such a mindset reflects on one's spirituality - they want to do the bare minimum to please God.
They forget several over-riding scriputes, like:
Acts 2:42,46. The saints in Jerusalem met daily. They did not have the perfect thing (the Bible) in their possession, but they met everyday for strength among other things.
Matthew 5:6. Jesus said in the sermon on the mount on characteristics of a Christian that they would hunger and thirst after righteousness. Deliberately missing a group Bible study such as Wednesday night is not hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
James 5:16 says to confess your sins to one another and pray that they may be healed. If you sin privately you can confess and repent privately, but if your sin is public in nature, then the church has opportunity to be blasphemed. You need to repent publicly that the church may first know of your repentance and forgive you, praying for you. The church at Corinth repented at Paul's first letter, for in the second letter Paul speaks of their repentance. First of all, note that Paul knew of their repentance, it suggests they did so publicly.
“Deliberately missing a group Bible study ...is not hungering and thirsting for righteousness.”
In 2 Corinthians 7:11, Paul expresses "...what clearning of yourselves, what vehement desire you have demonstrated". When one publicly confesses, there is a clearing of oneself, and more vehement desire shown. When we choose to miss, we miss an opportunity to repent publicly, pray for each other, and forgive one another.
Hebrews 3:13 says to exhort one another daily. We as Christians fail to do so, especially when we choose to miss one of the days we gather together like Wednesday night. We have an adversary and the world that closes in one us at every moment, should we not take the time to exhort each other as often as possible?
Luke 18:8. Jesus asks a haunting question, "...when I come, will I really find faith on the earth?" One way we can show our faith is making a conviction that whenever the doors of our building are open for worship or Bible study, I'll be there. It is an opportunity to show our faith.
These are a few of the scriptures that we need to consider when we choose to be absent whenever the Lord's people gather together. Coming together when the local church has deemed it necessary should be an automatic response with the above scriptures in mind.
Article Navigation:
Answering The Atheist
The Atheist's Complaint:
Should we love (Leviticus 19:17-18; 1 John 3:15; 4:20-21) or hate (Luke 14:26) one another? Is there a contradiction?
Response:
It is essential that Christians love one another. This is emphasized throughout 1 John, among other places in the Scriptures.
The questioner provides just one verse to indicate that we ought to hate one another, Luke 14:26. Hear what it says:
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciples.
In Matthew's parallel to this text, we read:
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. (10:37)
The Luke account is a case of hyperbole; an exaggerated statement to emphasize the degree of love which we should have for the Lord. He is not literally telling us that we should hate our parents, spouse, children, siblings, and self. The parallel text helps to determine the meaning.
John 12:25 uses the word hate (Gr. miseo) in the same way. There, we read:
He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
The Lord is minimizing the lesser to emphasize the greater. Eternal life is so valuable, our present life fades in comparison. Equally, our love for Jesus should be so great, that our love for our family should fail in comparison. Both our life here and our family here are temporary, but the life hereafter and the Lord Jesus are eternal.
There is no contradiction.
This article is in response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible.