MUST I GO TO CHURCH?
The Victorian author, Anthony Trollope, was clearly disillusioned with churches. In his novel, ‘Barchester Towers’, a new bishop of Barchester has been appointed and his new ambitious chaplain, Mr Slope, gives his first sermon. Trollope then adds,
“The preachers immediate object was to preach Mr Slope’s doctrine and not St. Paul’s, and he contrived to give the necessary twist to the text with some skill.”
Trollope then comments again,
“There is perhaps no greater hardship at present inflicted on mankind in civilised and free countries than the necessity of listening to sermons . . . . But no-one can rid himself of the preaching clergyman. He is the bore of the age, . . . . the nightmare that disturbs our Sunday’s rest, the incubus that overloads our religion and makes God’s service distasteful. We are not forced into church! No, but we desire more than that. We desire not to be forced to stay away. We desire, nay we are resolute to enjoy the comfort of public worship but we desire also that we may do so without an amount of tedium which ordinary human nature cannot endure with patience; that we may be able to leave the house of God, without the anxious longing for escape, which is the common consequence of common sermons.”
Is this an absurd caricature? Could it be that the boring routine ritual and tedious sermons have contributed to a demise of church attendance?
Political scientist Ronald Inglehart, one of the authors of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research concluded,
“Although church attendance is declining in nearly all advanced industrial societies, spiritual concerns more broadly defined are not. In fact in most industrialised societies, a growing share of the population is spending time thinking about the meaning and purpose of life.”
The relevance of church attendance statistics is uncertain. Even the numbers are somewhat suspect as people tell polsters what they think they ought to do and not what they have actually done. Thus although 44%of Americans claimed they went to religious services at least once a week, true counts show that the true figure is more like 20%. In a survey undertaken in Britain 1990-1991 27% claimed they attended services weekly but only 16% considered religion to be very important in their lives.
In many areas the attendance at traditional Anglican, Methodist, United Reformed and Roman Catholic churches is lessening whereas the age of those attending is increasing. However there are some churches that are expanding rapidly and making an impact in their societies. These tend to be those that feel they have an obligation to teach the Bible’s message to their society as a whole. This produces an urgent entrepreneurial spirit about their task.
I used to think that the most likely means of bringing our society back to thinking seriously about God was going to be through the traditional churches. They have the advantages of high profile public buildings and facilities, educated leaders, funding and an acceptance by the public for meeting their social needs with baptisms, weddings and funerals. I used to think that all that was needed was some fanning of the dull, glowing embers. I now fear that too often the embers have nearly gone out and that it will take something remarkable to bring about the necessary changes. The quiet, traditional, comfortable services that those who attend such services enjoy are not what our society needs. So what is needed?
There are three ways of answering this.
What does the Bible teach?
What does history teach?
What works?
a) What does the Bible teach?
There has always been a tendency for God’s people to find reasons for not meeting together. Doubtless the reasons given would be similar to those given today for not being active in a local church. Yet if you take some coal out of a fire, its glow will soon diminish and the flame will go out. If you take a fish out of water it will writhe around for a while but then the gill movements will lessen and it will die. So it is with Christians who do not meet up regularly with others.
Throughout the Bible there is great stress laid on the setting aside of one day a week to acknowledge the Lord. It is one of the Ten Commandments,
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh is a Sabbath to te Lord your God.” Exodus 20:8-10
Although Christians are not bound by the details of the Old Testament law, the principles remain because he is the same God. Keeping the Sabbath was a sign and reminder to God’s people that they were set apart for the Lord. So today Christians are meant to be different from the spiritually dead around us. Yet today these differences are all too tenuous. Regularly meeting up with God’s people is one way we can demonstrate, as well as remind ourselves, about our main allegiance.
God has not given us any choice in this matter. In Hebrews 10:25 God says,
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching.”
After Pentecost the early Christians used to meet up regularly, sometimes daily but certainly weekly.
“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.” Acts 20:7
There always have been long sermons that send some to sleep!
“Seated in the window was a young man called Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on.” Acts 20:9
This is not a Biblical warrant for poorly prepared waffling sermons that send people to sleep! Preachers must not hide behind the excuse that they are delivering the word of God. I remember a young preacher in a morning service who started his sermon tolerably well. But after 25 minutes the congregation were getting restless. The next ten minutes were very difficult. I do not remember the next 20 minutes after that. Someone asked him what had gone wrong. “Oh you mustn’t blame me, that was the sermon the Lord gave me.” Recognising a work of God and a gift of God is usually the responsibility of the congregation and not the responsibility of the person claiming to have a gift.
Jesus always encouraged his disciples to work together and not just individually.
“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:18-20
The early church “all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). There was a concept of teamwork about them that would make many a rugby scrum jealous. But this teamwork only comes when all the players are really committed to the manager of the team.
In his short second letter John makes the same appeal. He emphasises how much we need to work together with other Christians.
“As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 1 John v. 6
It is clearly not possible to stay apart from the church and love the members of it. John goes on to emphasise the need to be in a church that teaches the Bible. To teach otherwise is ‘wicked’.
“Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring the teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.” 1 John v. 9-11
A lady came to a clinic wearing a beautiful silver cross around her neck. I commented on it and then said,
“Excuse me asking but does that mean that you are a Christian or aren’t you sure about these things.”
She hesitated before saying,
“Ye –es, I am but it depends on what you mean by Christian.”
There wasn’t time to say much so I simply replied,
“Someone who is sold out to Jesus.”
To this she responded,
“Then I’m not a Christian.”
“I am sorry,” was all I could think to say.
The point of this story is that a Christian has put themselves under the forgiveness and Lordship umbrella of the Lord Jesus. He is now our priority - we live to please him. Everything else is of secondary importance. Jesus himself says
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (clothes, food, drink) will be given you as well.” Matthew 6:33
Sometimes we will face difficult choices. Should I play in a golf match on a Sunday morning when I am committed to my church? Should I fit in my holidays around the church’s needs or should the church fit around me. Do I feel that I should give my apologies if I cannot join the church at an important meeting? Should I go to pray with others when I don’t feel like it? Sometimes the world seems to be more important than the Lord’s church.
When John wrote his first epistle he wanted to emphasise a ‘high view ‘ of the church. He describes a Christian as someone who “walks in the light”, who lives in close harmony with God and his son, Jesus. This relationship with God will show itself in a fellowship with other Christians. It is when we live in these relationships that we have forgiveness from our sin through the blood of Jesus.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of the Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
He keeps repeating this emphasis, that love for the Christian brethren is evidence of salvation. It is relatively easy to love those who have similar ages and outlooks as ourselves. Christians are called however to love the whole body of Christians, the young, the elderly, and even the difficult in the local church.
“Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him.” 1 John 2:10-11
In the early church there were many who had a low view of the church and became independent of the main body of the church, preferring their own company of friends and their own doctrinal priorities. How this weakens the church.
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” 1 John 2:19
There is one major provision that John goes on to describe. The church must teach and follows the apostolic gospel, the ‘truth of God’ that has been revealed in ‘the word of God’. To recognise the importance of this is a major aspect of the anointing of the Holy Spirit that Christians receive.
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth . . . . See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does you will also remain in the Son and in the Father. . . . I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.” 1 John 2:20-24
The Bible teaches us clearly that we are to make God’s family, the church, a priority in our lives. The apostolic truths as revealed in Scripture must be clearly taught and adhered to in the church. If a church does not make this their priority, its fate will be similar to the those of the unfaithful churches described Revelation chapters 2 to 3. They have become useless to the Lord Jesus. By remaining true to the Bible’s teaching, and only in this way, will the purpose of God will be fulfilled.
“And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” Ephesians 1:9-10
All Christians must therefore be active members of such a local church.
b) What does history teach?
The ‘Apostolic Constitutions’ were a collection of writings made about 400 AD. Two of these address the problem the early church had of Christians failing to meet together to learn and encourage one another.
“When thou instructest the people, O bishop, command and exhort them to come constantly to church morning and evening every day, and by no means to forsake it on any account, but to assemble together continually; neither to diminish the Church by withdrawing themselves, and causing the body of Christ to be without its member. For it is not only spoken concerning the priests, but let every one of the laity hearken to it as concerning himself, considering that it is said by the Lord: "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Do not you therefore scatter yourselves abroad, who are the members of Christ, by not assembling together, since you have Christ your head, according to His promise, present, and communicating to you. Be not careless of yourselves, neither deprive your Saviour of His own members, neither divide His body nor disperse His members, neither prefer the occasions of this life to the word of God; but assemble yourselves together every day, morning and evening, singing psalms and praying in the Lord's house: in the morning saying the sixty-second Psalm, and in the evening the hundred and fortieth, but principally on the Sabbath-day. And on the day of our Lord's resurrection, which is the Lord's day, meet more diligently, sending praise to God that made the universe by Jesus, and sent Him to us, and condescended to let Him suffer, and raised Him from the dead. Otherwise what apology will he make to God who does not assemble on that day to hear the saving word concerning the resurrection, on which we pray thrice standing in memory of Him who arose in three days, in which is performed the reading of the prophets, the preaching of the Gospel, the oblation of the sacrifice, the gift of the holy food?” LIX
They certainly recognised the great importance of the disciplines of the Christian life for Christ’s disciples. If the heathen could take their gods seriously, should not those committed to the Lord Jesus Christ?
“And how can he be other than an adversary to God, who takes pains about temporary things night and day, but takes no care of things eternal? Who takes care of washings and temporary food every day, but does not take care of those that endure for ever? How can such a one even now avoid hearing that word of the Lord, "The Gentiles are justified more than you?" As He says, by way of reproach, to Jerusalem, "Sodom is justified rather than thou." For if the Gentiles every day, when they arise from sleep, run to their idols to worship them, and before all their work and all their labours do first of all pray to them, and in their feasts and in their solemnities do not keep away, but attend upon them; and not only those upon the place, but those living far distant do the same; and in their public shows all come together, as into a synagogue: in the same manner those which are vainly called Jews, when they have worked six days, on the seventh day rest, and come together into their synagogue, never leaving nor neglecting either rest from labour or assembling together. . . . If, therefore, those who are not saved frequently assemble together for such purposes as do not profit them, what apology wilt thou make to the Lord God who forsakest His Church, not imitating so much as the heathen, but by such thy absence growest slothful, or turnest apostate, or actest wickedness? To whom the Lord says by Jeremiah: "Ye have not kept my ordinances; nay, ye have not walked according to the ordinances of the heathen, and you have in a manner exceeded them." . . . . How, therefore, will any one make his apology who has despised or absented himself from the church of God?” LX
It always has been true that every Christian must make it a priority to meet regularly with other Christians so that we may grow in knowledge, encourage others and be encouraged to keep our walk with the Lord as our number one priority.
In recent years there has been a vogue for small groups of people to ‘do their own thing’. “My church is my own little group and we don’t want to be involved in anything bigger” they claim. Although this may sound attractive at first, in practice there are major problems. Bible teaching tends to become limited and is often from a limited perspective. The leaders tend not to put in the many hours of study needed to make the Bible teaching both expository and relevant. Small groups tend to have difficulties because of the children present. If the group is to satisfy the children, they will not feed the adults or adult visitors. Older people tend to feel excluded from such family groups. It is sometimes claimed that these closer knit groups are more attractive to outsiders and therefore evangelism. A further real risk of these small intimate groups is that promiscuous relationships tend to develop more readily. Furthermore the effect of any tensions within the group can have serious consequences on the spiritual well-being of everyone .
However the experience of many is that these small home churches tend to become inward looking and are seldom very effective evangelistically.
Home groups are clearly invaluable within the context of the wider body of a local Church. The ideal seems to be for Christians to use their homes to build relationships between families, but to belong to a caring, teaching broader church that they can invite their friends to.
An effective church needs some discipline that helps its members work together effectively for Christ. Isn’t this why the New Testament has such clear instructions about the need for a team of elders and deacons leading each church? To have an effective children’s work does necessitate there being a good number of children coming of all age groups. Small village churches that have minimal or no children’s work will soon only attract older people. We must urgently face the facts that geriatric churches cannot last long. One solution is for these small groups to join in a larger Bible teaching church so that they can contribute to the needs of a broadly based church, yet keep the advantages of the smaller home group within the broader local church.
What works?
What should we do if we don’t feel we can take our friends or family to our church to be taught God’s word? In this situation there are difficult choices to be made. The fault could lie with me and my concerns could be a cover for my own distant walk with the Lord. The first priority is to see if others feel the same. This will help ensure my concerns really are for the glory of the Lord Jesus and not personal whims. If others do feel the same, then work together to change things. However this is not easy and, to be honest, seldom works unless there is a strong committed group of people who are very clear about what is needed and are willing to work hard for change. If there is another fellowship that does teach the Bible well, that is caring and supportive and is seeking to win others for Christ then it may be necessary to change affiliations. The building up of Christ’s church, not a local group, remains our priority.
There are some churches that pride themselves that they teach the word of God. Yet they only have small elderly congregations making no inroads into their local society. Are they really concerned for those who are not forgiven? Do their members open their homes to non-Christians? Do they work hard to get to know their neighbours? Do they join local sporting and social clubs in order to win people for Christ? Do they take the gospel out to people in society or are they still waiting for others to come into them? Do they talk about the Lord Jesus to non-Christians, showing that Jesus is the person they most love in the world?
The churchwarden of a local church came for a medical check-up. After the consultation I asked her how the church was going.
“It is not easy. We are now quite a small and elderly congregation.” She replied.
“Do members of your church talk about the Lord Jesus with other people in the village?” I asked.
“Oh no,” came the reply, “We don’t even talk about him amongst ourselves.”
There is surely only one future for churches that regard their Lord and Saviour so lightly - they must die.
Some churches may wallow in their doctrinal purity, the heritage of their founders or the history of their denomination but are not that concerned to show the love of Christ and tell the gospel to those around. John had some advice for such groups,
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18
Being active in the local church is not only what the Lord wants but it is also very good for us. There is now much evidence that involvement in a local church is associated with better marriages, greater concern for others, closer families and lower rates of depression and suicide. We were created to live in relationships with other people. The Bible teaches that our closest relationships should be with others in the family of God. There are usually problems ahead for a Christian who marries a non-Christian because of the tensions that come from having different priorities. These tensions can also develop in business and other close friendships when Christ is not central. We must therefore choose these close relationships carefully. Even involvement in a church where living for Christ is not the priority can be spiritually deadly.
Not only is involvement in a local church good for us emotionally, it is also vital for our Christian lives. How can we encourage one another (1 Thes 4:18) and bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2) if we fail to meet regularly with the other Christians. Indeed failing to make meeting with other Christians a priority is often the first symptom that others can see of a problem in our walk with the Lord Jesus. Earlier symptoms are usually failing to spend time in prayer, and reading Gods word and talking about Jesus, but these may not be so apparent. It is virtually never true that someone is growing in their relationship with the Lord if the local community of Christians is not a priority. Of course we also need to develop our private spiritual disciplines at home but these are no substitute for meeting other saints. When I was young I used to long to be of such maturity that I did not need other Christians to support me. How foolish I was. Recognising our weakness and our need of others is a sign of maturity itself. We also need to help others. It is a great means of grace. Encouraging and helping others is a wonderful means of grace.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thes 5:11
Priorities
If it is so important that all Christians make it a priority to meet regularly with other Christians, then those leading the meetings and giving the talks have a great obligation to make the time profitable for those who come. How can we expect church members to invite family, neighbours and friends to hear what God has to say if they do not feel they would benefit by coming? We have come to the conclusion that it is very difficult for one person to prepare and lead the service, direct the music, prepare the children’s talk and visual aids and also to put in the many hours needed to teach the Bible well. Having a team approach has resulted in a much higher standard of services that people want to attend and invite others to.
A church without an active children’s work will also die. Young families will find it very difficult to become involved. This will result in these churches becoming increasingly smaller, elderly and inward looking. One solution has been for these smaller churches to amalgamate. Unfortunately the tendency is for them to combine with other similar small churches. That temporarily increases the numbers but not the direction and activities of the church. The only sensible amalgamations would be with vibrant Bible teaching churches that have active Bible teaching and children’s’ work. Such links, even if some local activities continue will give the chance of instilling new vitality into the smaller Christian communities. Unfortunately one reason this doesn’t occur can be that some churches are not primarily there to honour the Lord Jesus in our society but to satisfy other needs.
So for each of us who are Christians it is vital that we find a vital, outgoing, Bible teaching, local church and make this a priority of our lives. If we drift from such a group we are at risk of drifting from Christ. Christians must have a ‘high view’ of the local church. We need each other and we need to be frequently reminded of the teaching of Scripture to keep us focused on living Godly lives that give glory to the Lord Jesus in a world that rejects Him.
BVP
July 04
