The Non-Christian, Christian
Have you ever heard someone say, “I am a Christian, but I don’t love the Lord”?
Or how about, “I’m a Christian but repentance is not for me”?
No, of course you haven’t.
And for good reason.
To love the Lord and to repent of sin are part of what it means to be a genuine follower of Christ.
Okay, how about: “I’m a Christian, but I don’t go to church“?
Same thing. It’s just as ludicrous an idea.
There’s no such thing in the Bible as a Christian who chooses to abstain from congregational life. Try and find one Believer in the New Testament who isn’t an active part of a local church fellowship.
You won’t find any.
Why not?
Because that’s not how God designed it to work.
But somehow in our postmodern world there’s this new and unprecedented notion that belonging to a church as a Believer is optional.
But the Bible says the opposite is true.
It’s what God made us to do.
It’s who we are.
Like a bird that doesn’t fly and a fish that doesn’t swim is the Christian who doesn’t congregate.
Can you imagine the look on the Apostle Paul ‘s face if someone in the first century told him that, yes, they believed in Jesus, but that they choose not to gather for worship with the assembled people of God?
There’s just no category in the Bible for that kind of Christian.
And here’s why.
The word “church” is comprised of two Greek words which mean: the assembly of called ones.
The idea is clear:
If you are called of God, you are, by sheer definition, part of the assembly.
You cannot be called of God and not assemble because that’s what it means to be called!
It’s how God designed His Kingdom to work.
“And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).
So God raises a person to new life, and then directs them to a local body of Believers…
for their spiritual growth
for the health of the church itself
for the furthering of God’s work.
If church is optional, then why does the Bible tell us that, “Christ Himself gave evangelists, pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” (Ephesians 4:11).
What’s the point of gifting pastors to teach His people if His people aren’t congregating?!
Congregational life is not only essential, it’s commanded.
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
If we knowingly defy a clear command of God, how can we expect His blessing on our lives?
One of the devil’s favorite strategies is to keep the Christian cut off from the congregation.
And like the sheep that strays from the safety of the fold, the isolated Believer has placed themselves in harm’s way. The predator is always looking for a quick meal.
And we all have a predator that’s always on the prowl (1 Peter 5:8).
The Believer who neglects public worship can expect…
their zeal for God to wane.
their hearts to grow cold.
their faith to dwindle.
their resistance to sin to be weakened.
their minds to be more easily deceived.
their former church to be diminished because of their absence.
The one who loves God but doesn’t love the gathering is a contradiction of terms.
To love God is to love His children–and that love drives us to worship and give and learn and grow and serve Him in the context of church life.
No one needed to exhort King David to get to church.
Listen to his heart’s cry:
“I love Your sanctuary, LORD, the place where Your glorious presence dwells !” “My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the LORD (Psalm 26:8, 12). “I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory (Psalm 63:2).
You’ll not convince the king that church is optional. According to the Psalms, the congregation is the heartbeat of the life of faith.
Sadly, over the last few years, millions of former congregants no longer do so. The Lord’s Day has now become their day to do what they want to do.
For the first time in 3,400 years, the so-called people of God are not congregating–the Old Testament Believers worshipped on the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) for 1,400 years and in commemoration of the Resurrection, the New Testament Believers have been meeting on Sunday–the Lord’s Day for 2,000 years!
Until 2019.
And what began as a public safety issue, turned into a convenient excuse to nurture spiritual laziness and encourage our self-indulgent nature to avoid the discipline of gathering.
And sadly, it doesn’t take long for unplugged Believers to wake up one day to find they have more in common in the way they think and behave with non-Christians rather than with Christians.
And then the sobering question becomes, were they really born-again in the first place, or were they just nice church-going just going through the motions.