A couple months ago I was talking with a friend who pastors a church in the twin cities area. He expressed significant frustration at the disappearance of a small but significant number of people from their congregation due to COVID. Not lost in the sense of dead, but lost in the sense that they have effectively disengaged from participation in the church – whether Sunday morning services (at that point online) or in their smaller home-based groups.
I’ve had dozens of conversations like that in the last year. I’ve initiated conversations like it more than once in the last 6 months. According to Barna’s research back in July 2020 almost 1/3 of those who were previously attending a local church are now disengaged.
My honest opinion is that the vast majority of these people are lost for good – at least to the traditional Sunday morning church service. Don’t let yourself be one of those people.
Most church sucks right now
Let’s be honest. A traditional church service moved online sucks. Especially if you – like my wife and I do – have young kids at home. It is, at best, a stop-gap method for church that ultimately fails to fulfill the majority of biblical markers of what makes a church a church.
Thankfully many churches are moving back to meeting in-person, but socially distanced Sunday mornings in person without nursery or Sunday school isn’t much better. A large group gathering with 20 minutes of music and a 40 minute sermon doesn’t work well when you add 15 kids under the age of 6. It wasn’t designed to.
Our family has gone to a Sunday morning service perhaps a dozen times in the last 8 months and I honestly couldn’t tell you what any of the sermons were about. I was too busy managing our squirmy and talkative 2 and 4 year old.
And It’s not just traditional, Sunday-service models of church that have been impacted in the last year. Home church/micro church gatherings make some people nervous because of the lack of social distancing – something unrealistic in an average home.
But that doesn’t matter
But, my friends, regardless of whether it’s inconvenient or awkward or not enjoyable, we must not cease to gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Even if the government forbids it. Even if it means exposure to COVID. (cue the controversy!)
I say this especially to young adults, for whom it’s even easier to simply drop the habit of going to church (whatever the form) and feel little to no loss. After all, you see your Christian friends occasionally. You read the Bible every once in a while. You listen to a sermon each week. So you’re good, right?
I don’t think so. And neither does the author of the book of Hebrews. He wrote,
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:19-25
Don’t give up meeting together
Note the flow of thought in Hebrews 10:
- We get to enter the Holy of Holies because Jesus has made the way clear
- So draw near in full assurance of faith
- And hold to hope.
- Spur one another on
- Don’t give up gathering together
- In fact, gather and spur one another on “all the more” frequently as Jesus’ return gets closer.
The Christian faith isn’t something between you and Jesus. It’s not a solo excursion.
Far from it. As the exodus was for Israel, following Christ is a communal journey. The author of Hebrews is saying that if you draw near to God you’ll be drawn near to the others who are also drawing near to God. Note the multiples in these verses: “us,” “We,” “one another”. Drawing near to God is almost never an individual act. It is a communal one.
To state it bluntly: if you’re not gathering with brothers and sisters in Christ, you’re probably not drawing near to God.
But it might not look like Sunday morning
Your gathering may not (and need not) be going to a Sunday morning service. It doesn’t need to have a 30 minute sermon or a worship band. But it does need to be an intentional gathering of Jesus-followers for the purpose of “spurring one another on toward love and good deeds” and “encouraging one another.”
Don’t drop the church. Don’t cease to meet together, especially in this new year.
When was the last time you gathered with your Jesus-family for the purpose of growing in Christ together? When will you do it again? Don’t delay!
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