When I hear people say, "I can worship God without going to church" I think to myself, "Yeah, and you can probably breathe without air." It just doesn't make sense that a disciple of Jesus Christ would consistently miss getting together with other disciples to worship, share and learn. The early Christians never imagined there would be a time when it was more popular for believers to stay home than to gather in honor and worship of God.The writer of Hebrews saw this habit of not "attending" the Christian gatherings (i.e., going to church) slipping into the lives of believers:
Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:25).
It would be helpful to understand the backdrop of this verse. During this time, those hostile to followers of Christ were hounding the believers. The people of the "Way" were in opposition to accepted religious practices and they were gaining ground in people's lives. They were seen as dissenters and were perceived of as spreading division. The result of this perception was persecution. Later in the same chapter the writer wrote:
You had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plunderings of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one (v. 34).
This is guilt by association. Christians were being dragged off to prison for their faith and others in the church would visit them. While visiting, their homes were broken into and their possessions stolen ("plundered property"). These disciples would not just accept the robbery, but accept it with joy. Yes, that does sound like they were a chapter short of a complete novel, but they saw their identification with the Church as a "better possession" than the things they had collected. But some in the church were finding this too costly so they began to "miss church." They were neglecting the meetings because they didn't want to pay the price of being robbed while at church.
This sort of thing is not happening to us today (at least not in America). We are not the persecuted church, and yet some are constantly looking for excuses to stay away from church. We must have a deep-seated conviction that being a part of a church means that we are going to gather together with the Christian family. Having our name on a church roll has very little to do with our relationship to a church, but our presence has very much to do with it. Take this as my "encouragement" to go to church.
Grace & Peace,
Scott
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