Something About Attendance

A writer wants to know about the importance of the various assemblies that “the church” has; what should our stance be, here?

It is critical that we understand what “assembly” IS. “Assembly,” which might need a definition but will be bypassed here, is NOT about me. I mean to say that “assembly” does have its' benefits for me, but my mentality or my drive or my reasons for attending are not self-centered. In fact, they are for two reasons: 1) for God and 2) for the body, the brethren in the Messiah Jesus.

When we think about any of the “assemblies” (mens' breakfasts, congregational singings, gospel meetings, Wednesday night Bible study, Sunday morning worship, etc.) and have a “what is its 'cash value' for me?” mentality, we will certainly “come up short.” But, it is this very idea that has led witless leaders to try to entertain (as a means to draw numbers) rather than continue down the “trodden path” before. In order to draw numbers, we've tried to give “assembly” a “cash value” so that people can sense that they are “getting something” out of “assembly.” Look, this is damaging . . . First, this approach ceases to be “assembly” at this point, and, second, such a transformation shows how spiritually desensitized we (as a human people) are at times. Whatever “assembly” is, it isn't about me and it isn't about what I get from it.

That said, there are several things that I MIGHT “get” out of “assembly.” I might reap the benefits of encouragement from brethren, social interaction, exegetical stimulation, etc., etc., etc. BUT, even if I could list a trillion benefits that I “get” from “assembly,” those are all peripheral and secondary. That is, these are “fallout” from the “big deal,” which raises the question, “What is the 'big deal' in 'assembling'?”

Again, the “big deal” stems from discerning the actual path of the Messiah Jesus and then discerning that His “body” follows His lead. In other words, when we – like Paul – read “THE CROSS” as our paradigm, our model, our template, our blueprint, we quickly begin to observe that “THE CROSS” offered NOTHING to Jesus as far as “cash value.” He got nothing from it! This is why Paul starts to read “THE CROSS” as his overarching, all-encompassing map . . . By recognizing that “THE CROSS” was Jesus' route/approach, we see that it speaks of SELFLESS, SACRIFICIAL LOVE. And that is the paradigm by which ALL ELSE should be governed!

Now, how does “THE CROSS” begin to work as a model, a paradigm, in relation to the “attendance” issue?

Well, when we stop thinking about all of the benefits that WE/I get from “assembly” and start thinking about what we can do to serve Christ and serve His “body,” then we take on a new vision, a reoriented vision, reshaped by the love of Jesus, as manifested in “the cross.” Now, instead of asking about what I/WE get from “assembly,” we start thinking of the benefits that we can bring to the table for Christ (His purpose/goal/mission) and for others. Now, we start seeing that we have an opportunity to “team up with Jesus” for the purpose of educating the brethren, encouraging the brethren, suffering for and with the brethren, supporting the brethren, etc., etc., etc. Now, we start seeing that we, pitiable human beings, have claimed Jesus as our Lord and that He is our ideal human representative. Now, we start seeing that He has set the path for us to follow and it is one of SELFLESS, SACRIFICIAL LOVE (for God and for humanity).

Is it easy?! By no means! But, when we start thinking about the “trodden path” that was worn, that gets tiresome, that gets boring (especially when I do the preaching), that gets long, etc., etc. – well, I suppose we must remember that the one who put the “ruts” in the path in the first place was the pioneer, forerunner, captain: Jesus of Nazareth (cf. Heb. 2:10; 5:8,9; 6:20; 12:2). He was our “lead” in selfless, sacrificial love.

Let me see if I can sum up a few points . . .

1. The one passage that calls explicit attention to the need to assemble is prefaced by our need to love one another and provoke each other to love and good works; that is done, so says the author, not by forsaking the assembly but by being in attendance so that we can spurn each other on (cf. Heb. 10:24,25).

2. When Paul talked about issues pertaining to the “assemblies” at Corinth, his keyword (used 7 times in the block [1 Cor. 12-14]) was “edification,” a word that means “to upbuild” or “to strengthen” or something of that sort. The key to “assembly” is “to edify.”

3. To blend those two points together, then – and to reiterate – “assembly” is not about ME – it is about Christ and about YOU. Assembly is a communal place where we learn to work together, learn to selflessly sacrifice lovingly and a place where we concern ourselves about each other.

If those three points follow Paul's line of thought . . . well, I wonder where he learned such a view? Do you think, maybe, that he picked that line of thought up from Jesus who “though He was rich yet for our sakes became poor” (2 Cor. 8:9)? Yes, I'm sure that's right . . .

Here's what I'm saying . . . I'm not exactly sure about working out all of the kinks about our attendance “rules” (pardon the horrible word there, but that's how they're viewed by some). But, what I do know is this . . . While I'm not sure why we can skip the men's breakfast but not the Wednesday night Bible study or while we can skip the (optional?!) Thursday night mens' class but not the Sunday morning Bible class, I'm certain that what IS CONSISTENT is that we have no option to be “loveless” towards our brethren and towards our Christ.

See, what often is the case is that we don't know how to draw the lines, so we create arbitrary rules and then can't keep even our own rules consistently. We talk about the importance of 3 services but then can't figure out what makes one “assembly” more important than the other . . . and do we do that?! Oh, yes, we do! (Just observe!) But, while we, frail human beings that we are, may try our best to uphold the seriousness of attendance and may even be inconsistent at times, what I'm sure should be held as a rule is this: love Christ, love the brethren and see where that takes us this Sunday morning or Wednesday night . . . We might just find ourselves in a church pew, sitting next to some older brother or sister that's just lost a loved one and is needing someone like you to put an arm around him/her and assure them of what we know we desperately need through the risen Lord Jesus.

When we ask, “What do I get from assembly?” (with a bad attitude or bad angle, I might add), we're on a sour path indeed. Instead, we ought to look at the thing from another angle, the angle I've argued for in this article, as influenced by Jesus and His “cross” (the climax of selfless and sacrificial love).

No, I don't think you're morally or objectively wrong if you skip the Thursday night Bible class. No, I don't think you're morally or objectively wrong if you decide to “sleep in” on Saturday after working overtime on Friday night. No, I don't think you're wrong if . . . Here's where I think you're wrong (per Paul, according to his argument in 1 Corinthians 8-10) . . . I KNOW THAT YOU'RE WRONG when you willfully have an attitude that puts self above Christ and above the brethren. So, if you decide to lay out of some of the many events that the church has at your local congregation – well, I think you have that RIGHT/LIBERTY – but, in my experience, this isn't what many of us are doing. Instead, we're taking the route of a loveless and selfish attitude and thinking only of self and what I/WE get from “assembly.” After our misguided assessment, we can't come up with enough reasons to convince ourselves to attend . . . Oh, if only we looked at it with the proper lens, view, perspective.

What was it Paul said?! “All things are lawful but not all things are expedient?”??? Maybe, Paul was talking about things just like this? Yes, I'm sure that's right . . .

So, how about this upcoming opportunity for “assembly” we step back, think about what we can do for Christ and for His “body” and see where that takes us? If we love Christ and the brethren and are willing to follow the Master, we might just find ourselves selflessly and sacrificially attending so that we can manifest “love” like He did.

It's not about “us,” is it???