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| Mukti Namdai Baptist Church |
Our
society is a Christian society at least in the name
even if not in practice. Also, there are lots of churches around us, but do we
really understand what a church is and the importance of church attendance? Or
to be succinct, do you attend church regularly? Here, in this short article, I would like to explain why church
attendance is important.
First, because of what the Church
is:
Every
Christian is called out from the sinful world to the Church, which is the body
of Christ. It is also known as the Universal Church, to which every
Christian of all times of all places of all tongues belong (1Corinthians 12:
12-13). No Christian exists outside the Church; every Christian belongs to
Christ and is in Him. However, we also have a Local Church, a visible
congregation of believers in a particular place, that’s what we want to talk
about. Yet, how does one know if what calls itself a church is really a church?
The godly Reformers have concluded that there are three distinguishing marks of
the church (Belgic Confession, 1561, Article 29): 1. Preaching of God’s Word 2.
Practicing Ordinances (baptism and communion) and 3. Practicing Church
Discipline. (Sadly, most churches abused or neglected the biblical method of
Church discipline, which is laid out in Matthew 18:15-20).
Therefore,
a small group bible study, prayer meeting, or campus ministry aren’t a church at all. Moreover, watching live
streaming of a church service or listening to sermons on YouTube is not equivalent to attending a local church.
If you haven’t been a member of a local church where the word of God is
preached, where you are accountable to the leadership of the church, and
participating in its ordinances, would you look out for one (especially you
city dwellers, who are far away from home, or else, you have never been to a
church for long long time!)?
Second, because of the nature
of the church:
The
nature of the church requires us to attend church regularly. The church
functions as a body. Each Christian is gifted by the Spirit to serve one
another. Apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 12:12-31 compared us to the members of
the body: one is an eye, and others are
ear, hand, feet, and so on. For those of us who often have the habit of saying,
“Church is full of hypocrites, my relationship with God depends on my faith,
don’t you dare to judge others,” well,
the Scripture is rebuking you. You must be in the body of Christ! There is nobody
who is just an eye or just an ear and exists.
Jared C. Wilson rightly wrote, “We are saved as individuals, but we are not
saved to an individualized faith.”
Have you
ever realized that your regular church attendance (even if you do nothing
exceptional) serves as an encouragement to others? Personally, it makes me
cheerful when members come to the church regularly even in the sunshine, rain, and storms. Some members feel discouraged (and
even uncomfortable and boring) when the attendance is so thin. Don’t
underestimate this gift of encouragement.
Furthermore,
the elders of the church are to shepherd the flock of God (Acts 20:28). They
must equip each member for the work of
ministry (Ephesians 4:7-16). Regular attendance of church will make the members equipped to grow up in all things
into the likeness of Christ. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for
your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not
with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” Our
church attendance matters to God.
Hebrews
10:24-25 exhorts, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the Day approaching.” It is
expressed negatively (“not forsaking”) because they (the original audience) and
we have the tendency to skip church. Some have formed the habit of skipping it
whatever their excuses are. Positively, it is saying, “Let us Keep Coming To
The Church!” It has the idea of regularity, not a one-time gathering.
Church attendance must be regular, and the fellowship must be often as it can
be. It is also not an individual fellowship according to one’s likes, but an
assembling of more; we must get along with one another.
We are
also to Keep Communicating With Others
for it says “exhorting one another.” We come to church not just to listen to sermons or to talk to God, but also
to talk to one another to stir up love and good works.
In conclusion, let’s
consider this question: Does one need to attend church regularly in order to be
a Christian or to go to heaven? The answer is “No!” A sick person might not be
able to turn up to the church meetings. A
devoted Christian doctor might (sometimes) need to rush to the hospital to
assist a woman delivering a baby. But a professing Christian who hardly comes
to a church fellowship is likely to be a false convert! Should we Christians
who love Christ not cherish His bride and say like the Psalmist, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD, all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple”
(Psalms 27:4), “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in
the tents of wickedness” (Psalms 84:10)?
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