Is Churchgoing Dispensable?

Occasionally I have heard people say something like “I don’t need to go to church. I can have a relationship with God by myself.” The response evangelicals give to such a statement often relies on one primary Scripture: Hebrews 10:25. In this verse, the writer to the Hebrews urges the people not to “give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,” but to “encourage one another, and all the more as [they] see the day approaching” (NIV). This is an excellent response to the argument “self-churchers” give.

Nonetheless, it has bothered me that I could only offer this verse in reply to those who would “forsake meeting together.” That someone would think it fine to be divorced from church life seemed altogether foreign to the position of Scripture, but I could not think of appropriate ways to point out to such people the weight of the whole counsel of God on this issue. The time and energy it takes to assemble with a body of believers on a Sunday morning that would be ideal for sleeping in is, after all, significant. A cursory look at preferred Sunday morning activities in our increasingly post-Christian culture would confirm this.

I believe the Lord just yesterday gave me insight on the necessity of church life through the sermon of Jamie Rasmussen. Mr. Rasmussen covered 1 Thessalonians 5:12–18 that morning. When he expounded verse 14 in particular, I noticed how it was impossible to fulfill the Apostle Paul’s commands in isolation. Verse 14 reads: “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” Mr. Rasmussen argued that the last element in this series, patience with everyone, contrasted with the prior three elements. In his opinion, the first three commands dealt with relationships among believers, and the last dealt with relationships toward unbelievers.

Whether or not Mr. Rasmussen was correct in his analysis of this passage, it occurred to me that at least three commands in this verse could not be honored by those who forsake church. How would it be possible for the isolated Christian to warn those who are idle? A Christian would not even know who “those who are idle” referred to. Similarly, such a Christian would not be able to identify those who were timid or weak so that he or she might help them.

There is additional evidence that the biblical writers assumed their addresses were churchgoers. It would make no sense to write letters to the Romans, the Philippians, the Thessalonians, etc., if they did not comprise an active fellowship that could hear the reading of the letter. Even the authors’ frequent use of the reciprocal pronoun allēlous (one another) shows that those who wrote the Bible had an interactive group of believers in mind. Furthermore, Luke’s commendation of the early church (Acts 2:42–47) evinces his conviction that Christians were a group of mutually-supportive people.

Maybe the reason I had such trouble in finding explicit references to the habit of churchgoing is evidence that the biblical authors simply assumed it. Perhaps such “secrets” are right under our noses like Poe’s purloined letter. I’m glad we have the whole counsel of God to inform us, because without it we might miss instruction that would be hard to see through a microscope but easy to see through a telescope. If we step back after scrutinizing individual verses, we glean more truths that we can’t afford to miss.

The Hand of God Appears in Exile -- Ezek 1:1-3

"And it came to pass in [the] thirtieth year in the fourth [month] in the fifth to [the] month that I was in the midst of the exiles on the river Kebar. The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month—it [was] the fifth year to [the] exile of King Jehoiakin—[it] happened [that] the word of YHWH was to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans on the river Kebar. And the hand of YHWH was to him there" (Ezek 1:1-3).

I have just started a new study in the book of Ezekiel and will be passing along comments and meditations on the passages as I go through them personally. My hope is that these comments will bless others as they help me to synthesize my own thoughts and research. People like me sometimes get so deep into study that they forget why they were studying in the first place! I am hoping that God will use this blog to help us all position ourselves to be doers of the word of God and not just hearers only.

I surmise that most readers (who are brave enough to read the Prophets) skip over Ezek 1:1–3 quickly and do not consider what God might be saying to them through this portion of the Scripture. Dates and times aren't very interesting for many of us, and the river Chebar in land of the Chaldeans seems like something one might read about in The Princess Bride or The Never-Ending Story. Is it possible that God included these verses for more than background?

I believe these verses teach us a quick lesson in God's character as one who seeks to bestow grace. The exile was nothing less than the Israelites' deserved punishment for some horrific sins, as we will see later in the vision of the departure of God's glory from the temple. When Ezekiel states that "the word of YHWH was to Ezekiel the priest" and "the hand of YHWH was to him there," we see twice that God's attention was still focused on his exiled people. God was not content to let the exiles languish in captivity (cf. Ps 137). He gave his revelation and extended his power (his hand) to his people.

Isn't it shocking how often God initiates transformative interaction with us? We don't know whether the exiles were praying to God for his revelation, but the immediate history of the Israelites should lead us to think that such prayer was minimal at best. When our prayer lives and our fellowship with God are lacking, God often rescues us from our malaise by sending a friend, an encouraging report, a stirring occurrence, or a conviction of soul. We should thank God that he communicates with us in this way and doesn't give us the "silent treatment." It's nice to be freed from captivity.

Uncommon Forgiveness

Having recently finished my coursework at Phoenix Seminary, I have been thinking about God's unparalleled grace. Each of us can recount numerous times God has intervened in our lives and shown us mercy. As humans we have the tendency to berate others for their mistakes and shortcomings while we overlook the same faults in ourselves. How many times have I been angry at someone for a driving mistake? Probably as many times as I have expected mercy from other drivers whom I have cut off. Wouldn't it be wonderful to view our obligation toward others through the lens of divine grace?

In the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:23-25), Jesus spoke of a servant who owed a debt too large to be repaid. When the servant's creditor, his master, forgave the debt, the liberated servant proceeded immediately to demand repayment for a debt he himself was owed. This debt was infintesmal compared to the debt the servant had been forgiven, but was nonetheless substantial. The forgiven servant was owed one hundred denarii, the equivalent of several thousand dollars. When the servant's debtor begged for mercy in repaying the debt, the unforgiving servant refused to extend it. The master, upon hearing about this action, revoked his earlier act of mercy and had the unforgiving servant thrown into jail until he could pay back what he had owed. This amounted to nothing less than a life sentence.

If God, our Master, expressed such anger at the unforgiving servant's misdeed, we need to examine our hearts with trembling. On one level the unforgiving servant's actions are unthinkable, but don't we do the same thing he did? It has been much overlooked that the unforgiving servant was himself owed a substantial amount of money. Our sins are often worse, because we strike out at those who owe us a few dollars, whether literally or figuratively. Thanks be to God for his forgiveness even of this insolence, if we will come to him humbly and admit our wrongdoing.