Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25
For more than 70 years, pollsters have been reporting that some 40 percent of people in the United States regularly attend church services. But that number has been questioned, because it seems too high. A man named Olsen from the Evangelical Covenant Church began to study and investigate that number. Delving into the attendance practices of all of the so-called Christian churches in his country, he came to the conclusion that in 2004, only 17.7 percent of the people who claim to be church members attend services regularly. If you consider the large and growing number of people who have no religious affiliation, that means regular church attendance is probably less than ten percent among the population of the United States. The numbers for Canada are probably not much different. So the expression in our text, ‘as the manner of some is’, refers to about 90 percent of the population. Sadly, the need for regular attendance seems less importance these days even among those who gather to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This sends a bad message. In fact, it sends three bad messages.
Failing to regularly attend meetings of the Assembly sends the message that God is not very important to us, not as important as whatever else we might be doing during that time. If we say with our lips that God is the most important, but then skip meetings to rest up from a trip, or to participate in or attend a sports event, or to attend a family function, or to study for our exams, we are sending the message that all of those other things are more important than God. If we tend to miss meetings, we had better re-examine our relationship with God.
Another message sent by poor attendance is that the Lord’s people aren’t all that important, either. The purpose of gathering together with these people is that we might edify, exhort, and encourage each other. If we don’t gather together with them to do that, we are failing in our responsibility to them. We are told in 1 John 4:7-11 that we show our love to God by showing love to each other. If we tend to miss meetings, we had better re-examine our relationship with our fellow Christians.
The third message that is sent by missing Assembly meetings is those meetings are not very important. And who are we sending that message to? We send it to our children, who will get the message that it’s OK to ignore the things of God when something more entertaining comes along. We send it to those who we would seek to witness to around us, who will get the message that our Christianity is just a casual thing, and so the Gospel must not be all that important either. We send it to our fellow Christians, who will get the message that we aren’t all that committed to the things of God. If we tend to miss meetings, we had better re-examine our personal priorities.
What messages are you sending by your attendance record at meetings of the Assembly? – Jim MacIntosh