Participation in the Local Chruch

There are so many people who name the name of Christ, yet they aren't attached to any local congregation of believers. Many professing Christians find themselves unable or unwilling to find a weekly gathering of saints where they can avail themselves of the teaching that God has provided through qualified elders and gifted teachers, and therefore they are not in a position to use their gifts for the benefit of the body of Christ. This should not be.

I know I run the risk of preaching to the choir when I write to Christians about the importance of corporate worship. But even those Christians who attend church faithful every Sunday need to be continually reminded of the importance of that gathering. We also need to to be reminded of the purpose for that time together in corporate prayer, singing, and learning.

As with all the things which Christians ought to do, we do so because it is commanded. Whether or not it seems expedient to our own goals on any particular Sunday to gather with the saints (or what ever day your church gathers for corporate worship), we know that the Lord gives His commandments for our own good. And we are told that the gathering of saints ought not be neglected (Heb 10:25). A commandment from the Lord ought to be sufficient reason for us to gather regularly.

Thankfully, we are also given more information as to God's purpose in our coming together. Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us that the gifts God has given leave us in need of each other. These gifts have been given to equip us and to edify us. We need to sit under the teaching of qualified elders to this end. If you believe the true gospel, you are a part of the body of Christ, part of a body which has need of the other parts. Wouldn't you laugh if your hand actually told you that it didn't have any need of your eye? And yet how many Christians say that very thing through their choice to forsake the corporate gathering of Christians for a Sunday at home? God has given spiritual gifts to His people, and those gifts don't all reside in you or in your household (1 Corinthians 12). The men who have been appointed to preach have been given words of encouragement and rebuke that you need to hear. That is why, when the pastor teaches on specific sins to be avoided, you may feel as if he's talking about you. And when he gives comfort from God's Word, that comfort supplies what was needed for you.

If you believe the true gospel, you are not only in need of the other parts of the body of Christ, but you yourself are needed and have something to offer others. The Scriptures do not teach an 80-20 principle. Perhaps it is because we are so comfortable receiving from others in body without offering anything of ourselves that we can so easily decide to withdraw, claiming to love Christ without connecting with the people of God. It's when we think we've done the church a favor by being in the building between 11 and 12:30 that we're in danger of benefiting no one. How often do we hear ourselves or others say, what this church needs is a good cleaning, or some one to reach out to the youth, or some one to replace the hymnals, while we ourselves don't clean the church, don't reach out to the youth, and don't replace the hymnals? Or worse yet, are we not even present enough to know what the church needs? When you are present, you have more to contribute to the the needs of the local church than just attendance.

Sometimes there is a tendency to constantly be looking for the perfect church, and that keeps some from ever joining with a community of believers. As C. S. Lewis writes in The Screwtape Letters, “...if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next-best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that 'suits' him until he becomes a taster or a connoisseur of churches.” He continues in this fictional book, written from the point of view of a demon wishing to upset the faith of a believer, “...the search for a 'suitable' church makes the man a critic where the Enemy [God] wants him to be a pupil.” We certainly do need to be critical enough in the search for a church to find a congregation with leadership which faithfully proclaims the Word of God without compromising the truth to make it more palatable. But the goal is not to find the perfect building with perfect people and perfect preaching. We need to remember which side of glory we are on. May God grant us the humility to be willing to be submissive to elders and the willingness to make ourselves available for our brothers and sisters in Christ. In that way we give the corporate gathering a high place in our affections.