Acts 2:44-47
Recently, an article came across my desk giving statistics about the decline in church attendance among the most committed of our church members. Let me say right up front, I’m weary of making decisions and crafting church programs on the basis of the latest trends and statistical data. I understand wanting to reach people (I want to reach as many as possible)! And, learning better methods to accomplish this purpose has its place. But, we have become obsessed with finding out what people “want” in a church and crafting ministry to accommodate them without first prioritizing what God wants for/from His church. I have a novel idea...how about we start with the scripture and call people to a different kind of culture than the one the world wants the church to adopt? How about we truly be a counter-cultural movement like Christ intended His church to be?
The statistics from the aforementioned article showed that if a church member attended four Sundays a month, that in 2015 they would only attend three Sundays a month. If they attended three Sundays a month, that in 2015 they would attend two Sundays. Apparently, if these statistics are correct, the greatest reason for the decline in our churches is that church members no longer prioritize the worship gatherings on the Lord’s Day.
The article went on to list three reasons why people no longer prioritize these Sunday gatherings.
- “Increasing involvement with kids activities including more “multiple activity” commitments (sports, music, etc) for longer durations with greater competitiveness. The growth of club sports and the intensity of competition creates a market for kids to get started earlier and be involved longer. This is literally eating our families alive when it comes to time.
- “Greater mobility in general and the rise of virtual workplaces. 25% of white collar Americans travel as a part of making a living. People with discretionary time are more likely to be traveling or working in environments outside of their typical home environment.
- “Access to church online. Now it’s easier to stay connected to the church, if you have to travel or if you have problems at home getting ready for church in the morning. Within 2 minutes, [you] can be streaming one of many great services from across the country from [your] laptop to [your] widescreen via Apple TV for the entire family.”
Again, I don’t personally know if these are the three most prevalent reasons some Christians are missing church more frequently, but I suspect they play a role in many people’s absences.
What each of us needs to understand is that we will not be spiritually fit if we don’t set aside Sundays as a day of worship for us and our families. Just as every believer needs to read the Bible and pray each day, every believer needs to gather with other believers on Sundays and connect with them through small group ministries during the week.
In the course of my thirty-seven years of ministry, I think I’ve heard about every imaginable excuse for why people can’t gather with God’s people. Some of them are...
- TIME - work schedules, ballgames, kids, mowing, gardening...People have their priorities askew!
- BORING OR “THE CHURCH ISN’T MEETING MY NEEDS” - Is that the church’s fault, or your own lack of effort to invest and involve yourself in learning and participating?
- OTHER INTERESTS - friends, hobbies, T.V. ....etc. Again, this is a matter of priorities and focus!
- GUILT - Some people are living sinful lives and don’t want to be confronted with the challenge to change.
- TOO MANY DENOMINATIONS - Which one is right? - Don’t you think it would be worth taking the time to find out...if eternity is at stake?
- HYPOCRITES - But, that’s no reason to desert God’s church...hypocrites are found in every endeavor of life. We’re all broken in many ways!
- THEY CONSIDER THEMSELVES TO BE GOOD PEOPLE - If you refuse to gather with God’s church, you’re not good in one of the most vital areas of life.
- SOMEONE HURT MY FEELINGS - Everyone’s feelings get hurt at times. Surely a family member has hurt your feelings in the past. You didn’t find a new home, did you?
- “GOD KNOWS MY HEART” - Just because God knows your heart doesn't mean He excuses your disobedience.
- THEY MISSED THE POINT - The church is too churchy. "No one ever said that a sporting event is too sporty, a library is too booky, a concert is too musicy, an airport is too planey, a home is too homey, a college is too schooly, or a hospital is too hospitally."
Why do we want the church to be about everything except Jesus, our souls, God, spirituality, the scripture, conviction of sin, heaven, hell, salvation, righteousness, grace, and judgment?
We can add to the list as many other excuses as we like, but that doesn’t excuse us from the importance of the gathering of the church. You have to show up to work out at your local gym, treadmill, exercise class, walking track, stationary bike, etc...if you’re going to get in shape physically. And, you have to show up with God’s people on Sundays, if you’re going to get spiritually fit for the life and mission God has for you to fulfill.
The early church met far more frequently than our churches do today. In Acts 2:46 we’re told that they met at the Temple where large crowds could gather and then they broke up into smaller settings (homes) for fellowship and discipleship “DAILY” (Acts 2:46). One of their venues for meeting was Solomon’s Colonnade, which ran along the east side of the outer court. It is twice mentioned as the place where they gathered (Acts 3:11; 5:12).
As persecution arose against the church, they had to meet in people’s homes out of necessity (different homes became the designated gathering places for Christians). There was never any scriptural prohibition against large public gatherings or church buildings. Even before Constantine’s “edict of toleration” (311 AD) that officially ended the persecution of Christianity and opened the way for more public gatherings in buildings designated for church use, archaeologists have discovered an ancient church building in Dura-Europos near the Euphrates River about 200 miles SE of Haran. The date of this building can be determined from an inscription (AD 232-233) which clearly shows it was used for worship at least 80 years before Constantine’s edict (Finegan, Jack. 1946. Light From The Ancient Past. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press)
It was simply the practical necessity of avoiding persecution or even death that forced the church to meet in smaller settings. From scripture we can also surmise that the early church sometimes used rented or borrowed facilities (cf. Acts 19:9) for their meetings. They may have even used synagogues, until Jewish leaders refused them access for claiming that Jesus was the Messiah risen from the dead.
And, it is equally clear that Sunday ultimately became the primary time for their worship gatherings (cf. Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10).
Just to illustrate the importance of the gathering of believers, consider some of the metaphors used in scripture for the church. One author says there are at least 99 such metaphors, but we’ll consider just five of them.
The church is compared to a family (2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Ephesians 2:19; 5:21-33), a body (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 12:12-27; Romans 12:4-5; Ephesians 4:1-16), a temple (1 Corinthians 3:9-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-8), an army (Romans 13:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Ephesians 6:10-20) and a flock (Acts 20:28).
There are numerous things that can be emphasized from these different metaphors, but among them is the fact that each one involves relationships, interaction and value that is derived from being a part of the larger group. And, that’s why gathering with believers each week is important: we worship Christ together, we encourage one another, we submit to the equipping process (Ephesians 4:11-12), we pray together, we hear the preaching/teaching of the Word, etc.
The Bible never condones believers isolating themselves from the gathering of the saints. Just think about the New Testament epistles: the vast portion of them are written to churches collectively...not separate individual members. In other words, the scriptural image of the church is always about community.
We gather on Sundays AS the church so that we can go out and BE the church on the other days of the week. That’s what the Greek word for “church” actually indicates to us. It is a called out assembly of believers organized under the authority of Christ.
Further, for scripture to be fulfilled, it is absolutely necessary for believers to gather with the church. How else can the shepherd obey Acts 20:28 when he’s told to “feed” (“shepherd”) the flock of God? How else is he to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-12)? How else is he to “watch out for [their] souls” (Hebrews 13:7, 17)? How else can believers obey the command to “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together,” except they assemble themselves together (Hebrews 10:24-25)? All of these things require that we participate in the regular gathering of believers!!
Our church encourages two things in the area of gathering with other believers that were practiced by the early church (Acts 2:46): assembling together “in the temple” (i.e., with the larger body of gathered believers for worship services, equipping, encouragement, prayer and instruction from scripture) and “breaking bread from house to house” (Lifegroups in homes for fellowship and application of truth to life).
Let’s finish with some good reasons why each of us should prioritize the gathering of believers each Sunday.
- It’s a visible and tangible expression of our love for God and worship of Him that can be seen by others (Psalm 22:22).
- It strengthens our faith and builds us up spiritually as we worship, fellowship and hear the preaching of the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
- It allows the opportunity to practice and show Christian love, harmony and unity with the rest of the family of God (1 John 2:9-10).
- It is an act of obedience that shows our submission to God and our desire to know Him better (Hebrews 10:24-26).
- It allows us to be accountable to our spiritual leaders to whom the oversight of our souls has been charged (Hebrews 13:17).
- It encourages us when we see others seeking God and following Him in obedience with us.
- It allows us to make a greater impact on our community collectively than we could ever make separately.
- It honors the Lord’s Day and shows that we want Him to be the priority of our lives every other day of the week.
Closing thought:
It’s also not popular anymore to have a Sunday evening service at many of our churches. Granted, there is no biblical mandate about how many times or how long services must be on the Lord’s Day. However, it’s clear from a cursory reading of the book of Acts that the early church met far more often and for far longer periods than our modern churches meet.
Do we really think that fewer services is what Christians need to grow spiritually? How does missing the gathering of believers on Sunday night make us stronger in our faith? Do we use the time we take from Sunday evening gatherings to focus on scripture and prayer? As we get closer to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, do we need less encouragement and instruction in the faith or more?
I can’t help but think that many of us are missing opportunities to meet the resurrected Christ in the gathering of believers on Sunday night, too. Not unlike Thomas that missed Jesus on the first Sunday evening after His resurrection, I wonder how many of us miss what Christ wants to do in our lives simply because we have minimized the importance of Sunday nights?
To get spiritually fit this year we need the scripture and prayer. But, we also need the worship gatherings and small group meetings with God’s people.
