Walking in the Son

“not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25, HCSB)   Church pain is real, and so is church hypocrisy. These are the top causes/reasons/excuses people give for not attending church anymore. I hear it often, and it usually begins with a statement like—“I used to go to that church, but….” What follows is a reason, cause, or excuse to justify staying at home. They usually offer further justification with statements such as, “I can worship anywhere,” or “we watch preaching on the TV, so we are getting church.” I am not suggesting church pain and hypocrisy are not genuine issues. I am suggesting there are a couple of things driving our isolation from church, including the following:   •    Pride. Pride indicates we do not present the same hypocrisy as others. Pride demonstrates that we have not contributed to church pain in our own way. •    Worldliness. Worldliness invites isolationism. Our culture encourages people to shut the doors on others. I remember a day when people used to gather together as couples and friends in one another’s homes and play card games like hearts and socialize. It seems as though playing games on our phones—the most intense form of isolation I see today—has replaced socialization. How odd is it that something called social media has contributed to isolationism? •    Disregard for God’s Word. With biblical illiteracy at an all-time high, it is no surprise we would disregard God’s Word. God’s Word encourages, teaches, and commands assembling for worship. Gathering for worship is as old as the nation of Israel. For example, see Genesis 28:3, “May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples.” We are far more concerned with what other people do than worshiping the Father. We use religious piety as the reason to rail against others. We say things like, I cannot focus on God with those people talking. What we are doing is justifying our disobedience. Is that different from what occurred in the Garden of Eden in the account of original sin found in Genesis three? I think not. We manage to find ways to focus on what is important to us. We can concentrate on our phones so intently at work or home that we are utterly unaware of what is happening around us. Yet, in worship, we are so easily distracted. Instead of focusing on the problems in the local church, how about we assemble as a body of believers united in Christ and focus on worshipping the One true God.