Going to church is passé Philippians 2.1

Going to church is passé … have you noticed? 

Now I am not just talking about ‘the world’ thinking church is passé, but also God-fearing, God-loving people who have just stopped going to church.  However, Friends, we are missing something fundamental to Christianity by doing so.  You see, there are certain things that can only be realized by participating in a community of believers who come together for the purpose of worshipping God. 

From my youth, I was trained that Christians go to church.  That is what we do.  Period.  I understood the reasons to be quite simple, and I do not think the reasons have changed.  First, we are to ‘honor the Sabbath, and keep it holy,’1  which is one of the Ten Commandments.  And second, we are to ‘not forsake the assembling of ourselves together…’2  (I know I memorized that last verse when I was young because the verbiage is definitely King James!)  But let’s look at this verse from Hebrews--“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  So, besides lifting our worship to God, joining together with other believers is meant for our encouragement.  In fact, the preceding verse shows that meeting together in the house of God affords us the opportunity to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”3                                  

Christianity is not meant to be either a solo sport or a spectator sport.  Let’s go back, way back, to the early church, which met in homes in Jerusalem. (ah, so I am not talking about ‘church’ as it pertains to a building)  Why did they come together?  First, they had experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit when they had been together, waiting in obedience, as Jesus had told them to do.  Acts chapter two records that day that changed Christianity forever, and verse 42 highlights the four reasons the believers came together.  Followers of Jesus Christ devoted themselves to:  the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 

In Paul’s writing to the Philippians, he spurs them on to the unity which can only be had in Jesus Christ . . .

He writes:

“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?                   Any comfort from his love?                                                                                     Any fellowship together in the Spirit?                                                             Are your hearts tender and compassionate?”     Philippians 2.1, New Living Translation

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?  Of course there is!  Is there any comfort from his love?  Why, there is no greater comfort than the love of God!  Is there any fellowship together in the Spirit?  Why yes, the world can only offer counterfeit experiences; there is nothing like the people of God being together to share the love of God with one another.  It is the Holy Spirit within individual believers that connects the hearts and minds of believers, one with another, and then, ushers in the shared experience of the presence of God, in such a way, that at times, his presence is so real, the feeling so palpable, it cannot be denied.  Oh yes, there is fellowship together in the Spirit.  Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Oh, I pray so.  If not, what have you allowed to harden them? 

All four of these things should be present and characteristic of the body of believers:  encouragement, comfort, fellowship, and compassion, for these issue forth from the heart of our loving Father, made possible through the love of Jesus Christ, with the connectivity of the Holy Spirit. These are the shared qualities of faith that we enjoy in a community of believers, and they are indispensable to living as Christians in the world.

Are you discouraged in your faith, or has your ardor waned?  Perhaps you have cut yourself off from community . . . or have never experienced it.  Does the love of Christ seem more present in someone else’s life than your own?  Perhaps you need to connect with the people of God.  Do you seem to be holding lone Christian beliefs and values in your heart and mind?  You will not remain vital without the spark that is present in the people of God.  ‘Finding yourself a little more cynical, a little less compassionate toward others’ needs?  You were not meant to be an island, Man.  Get in relationship with other Christians—do life with together with them

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Indeed, let’s spur one another on toward love and good deeds!  Church may be passé, but it is definitely not irrelevant, it is vital.

Grace and Peace,

Christine

PastorWoman.com