Greetings All,
Today's 'thought'
addresses an increasingly prevalent problem in modern church circles--lack of church attendance. It is taken from Phillip Yancey's book, "Church: Why Bother?" and it begins with the question,"Is church really necessary for a believing Christian?"
In days gone by church
attendance used to be considered somewhat "mandatory." Not always in a
"legalistic" sense (as some people are quick to reply), but in a truly
devoted, committed, testimony to the world, I need this, I benefit from
this, God commands it sense. The Lord's Day used to be seen as the
Lord's Day and not just the
Lord's hour, or worse, his 45 minutes or half hour -- something one fits in among a multitude of other equally pressing (or in reality, not so pressing) commitments and desires. 
And because it was the Lord's
Day, they understood that at least part of it was to be spent in the
House of the Lord; the House of Worship, or the "Meeting House" as it
was called in early New England to differentiate from the "church"
(which is the people of God and not the building they meet in).
Hebrews 10:25 made it clear: "Do not forsake the gathering together of yourselves, as is the habit of some..."
The reason? It was a time to gather together in a world often hostile
to the faith and encourage one another. The word encourage is a
compound word from "en" (meaning "in") and cour (meaning "heart")
and essentially means to "infuse with courage" or "infuse the heart
with strength to go on."
Gathering with others for worship, fellowship, instruction, prayer and
praise encourages both us and them to keep our gaze focused on Christ,
grow in Him and persevere in the faith.
This thought
addresses why many people (including the author at one point) do not do
so. It also offers some food for thought and reasons to reconsider going
back if you have forsaken gathering together with others for worship on Sunday morning. I have also inserted a related section from Yancey's book, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" I trust you will find them helpful. Enjoy.
"Is
church really necessary for a believing Christian? Winston Churchill
once said that he related to the church rather like a flying buttress:
he supported it from the
outside.
I tried
that stategy for a while, after I had come to believe...and had
committed myself to God. I am not alone. Far fewer people attend
church on Sunday than claim to follow Christ. Some of them have stories
similar to mine: they feel burned or even betrayed by a former church
experience. Other simply 'get nothing out of church.' Following Jesus
is one thing; following other Christians into a sanctuary on Sunday
moring is quite another. Why bother? As the poet Anne Sexton put it:
'
wore hats...' (men might add ties)
As I reflect on my pilgrimage I can see that many barriers kept me away
from church. First was hypocrisy. The atheistic philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche was once asked what made him so negative toward Christians.
He replied, 'I would believe in their salvation if they looked a little
more like people who have been saved.'
Scarred
by the absolutist fundamentalism of my childhood, I too approached
church warily. On Sunday mornings Christians dressed up in fine clothes
and smiled at each other, but I knew from personal experience that such
a facade could cloak a meaner spirit. I had a knee-jerk reaction
against anything
that smacked of hypocrisy until one day the question
occurred to me, 'What would church look like if every member were just
like me?' Properly humbled, I began concentrating on my own
spirituality, not everyone else's. 
God is the ultimate judge of hypocrisy in the church, I decided; I
would leave such judgment in God's capable hands. When I did so I began
to relax and grow softer and more forgiving of others. After all, who
has a perfect spouse, or perfect parents or children? We do not give up
on the institution of family because of its imperfections -- why give
up on the church?...
What changed my attitude toward church? A skeptic might say that I
lowered my expectations somewhere along the way, or perhaps I 'got used
to' church just as, after numerous false starts, I got used to
opera. Yet I sense something else at work: church has filled in me a
need that could not be met in any other way. Saint John of the Cross
wrote: 'The virtuous soul that is alone... is like the burning coal that
is alone. It will grow colder rather than hotter.' I believe he is
right. Christianity is not a purely intellectual faith. It can only be
lived in community. Perhaps for this reason I never entirely gave up on
church. At a deep level I sense that church contains something I
desperately need. Whenever I abandon church for a time, I find that I am the one who suffers. My faith fades, and the crusty shell of lovelessness grows over me again. I grow colder instead of hotter. And so my journeys away from church have always circled back
inside."
It
was Billy Graham, I believe, who used to tell people that if they found
the perfect church they shouldn't join it, for then it would no longer
be perfect. Yet
believing that requires that we maintain an honest inwardly
focused gaze directed at our own imperfections and shortcomings, rather
than the typical outward gaze that looks for the imperfections and
shortcomings of others and then upon finding them (which one can always
easily do) uses them for an excuse to leave or neglect attending church.
One
thing might help the defection rate,
though. And that is if the church focused on being the church Christ
called it to
be. We can never erradicate things people will use as an excuse to
avoid church, since as Yancey admits, the problem really rested in us
and not others. But it would help erradicate some of them if we followed his advice given in this second quote:
"'In the world Christians are a colony of the true home,' said
Bonhoeffer. Perhaps Christians should work harder toward establishing
colonies of the kingdom that point to our true home... If the world
despises a notorious sinner, the church will love her. If the world
cuts off aid to the poor and the suffering, the church will offer food
and healing. If the world oppresses, the church will raise up the
oppressed. If the world shames the outcast, the church will proclaim
God's reconciling love. If the world
seeks profit and self-fulfillment, the
church seeks sacrifice and service. If the world demands retribution,
the church dispenses grace. If the world splinters into factions, the
church joins together in unity. If the world destroys enemies, the
church loves them. That, at least, is the vision of the church in the
New Testament: a colony of heaven in a hostile world."
With prayers that we might display such subversive behavior,
Pastor Jeff
