“On
the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian.
You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do
not, you will have a very poor relationship.” Kent Hughes
It’s an area like so many in our culture,
even in the Church, where the abnormal has become the normal. In the “normal”
Bible-believing church, it’s estimated 30% will miss each Sunday. Church
attendance…worship has become a matter of convenience rather than commitment. A
new term has developed to designate this group. They’ve been dubbed the “semi-churched.”
These are believers who show up some of the time, but not every Sunday. They’re
on again/off again, in and out, here one Sunday and then gone for two. It’s
disastrous to our personal spiritual health and our church family’s spiritual
health. It’s either because we don’t know our Bibles, or worse, we don’t take
them seriously. Jesus’ worship habit was to attend a weekly worship service
(Luke 4:16). The focus of the New Testament is the local church, so much so
that nearly every New Testament book was either written to a local church or a
pastor. Jesus loves the church. He died for it. If we love Jesus, we won’t be
satisfied with “liking” the church, we’ll love what Jesus loved. If you love
someone, you want to spend time with them. You’re not checking your watch,
wondering when your time will be up or jump at any excuse to skip. Missing
church is not parole from some weekly obligation, it’s missing out on the
weekly family reunion. It should bother us, no, it should grieve us to miss
being with our spiritual family. Hebrews 10:25 is crystal clear and rather
pointed, “not neglecting to meet
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the
more as you see the Day drawing near.” Gathering every Lord’s Day with our
church family is one of the vital parts of being a growing, maturing Christian.
So ask yourself a few questions…
Have you made going to church an inviolable
habit for you and/or your family? You know how you wake up in the
morning and think “maybe I’ll make french toast this morning”? That’s not what
church attendance should be like. It’s not to be a “if the mood feels right”
proposition. Now many of us didn’t grow up this way. I know that I didn’t. As a
teenager, I was often the only person attending church from my home and I had
to rely on others to give me a ride to church.
Yet, I know of individuals who are more
faithful in going to the gym than many Christians are in attending the worship
services of their church. And if one member of the family is sick, then the
whole family will often stay home. Can you imagine calling up your employer and
telling him, “Listen, my son has a cold so I won’t be coming in today”? In some
homes going to church is up for a weekly democratic vote, “Do you kids want to
go to church this week?” An education has temporal benefits yet I can’t imagine
a parent putting school attendance up for a vote or making it optional.
Do you plan ahead for Sunday worship?
If you rush around Sunday morning trying to find clothes and shoes, and your
Bible – it’s not going to prepare you for worship. If we want to be ready for
work or school, we go to bed at a decent time. We also give ourselves plenty of
time so that we can arrive on time, even early. We arrive anticipating being
touched by God’s Spirit and having Him work in our lives. We don’t rush in at
the last minute and then rush out with the final “Amen.” 
Do you plan your schedule so that you can
minimize being absent from church on Sunday? If you happen to be on
vacation, what a great opportunity to worship with other believers from other
parts of the country. Most of us don’t skip meals when we’re travelling, why
would we skip a spiritual meal? But if Sunday is the weekly family reunion and
we truly value our spiritual family, doesn’t that suggest that we should make a
real effort to be around on Sunday. If you’re going to be out of town to visit
family, why not take Friday off so you can be back on Saturday night? If we are
stewards of the time that the Lord has entrusted to us, then we need to re-evaluate
a common assumption that Friday evening through Sunday evening are ours to do
whatever we want wherever we want. It’s almost impossible to grow in love for Jesus,
for your church and minister effectively in your church if you’re regularly not
there.
Do you love the Lord and your church family
sacrificially? True love is rarely convenient and often costly. To be
with your church family, you may have to limit your plans for Saturday night.
It might mean asking your boss to please not schedule you for Sunday morning.
Most employers willingly put up with a lot worse than an employee who wants
attend church (hangovers, domestic crises, etc.). Use Saturday to catch up on
your chores, sleep in and unwind. It may mean telling an obsessed coach that
your children will either miss certain games or be late. It’s doubtful that
your child is the next Aaron Rodgers or Gabby Douglas but they are going to be
the parents of your grandchildren. They are going to be the greatest spiritual
influence on them…and they’re leaning it now…from you and what you value.
If attending church is really a hassle for
you and something that you endure, not enjoy – have you considered that maybe
you’re not a Christian? Does going to church every week make you a
Christian? Absolutely not. Does missing church half of the Sundays in a year
make you a non-Christian? No, but it does make one wonder. It’s this simple –
God’s people love God and love to be with God’s people. They love to sing
praises. They love to hear His Word taught and be fed from the Scriptures. Casual
church attendance is usually a sign of spiritual immaturity at best and
unbelief at worst. Whenever God calls people out of darkness, He always calls
them into the church. If the Sunday worship service is the community of the
redeemed, what does your weekly pattern suggest about where you truly belong?
Does it indicate that you really love Jesus?
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