We have both given our answers to the question: Is Church Essential? Ben laid out clearly the Biblical mandate and the adaptive methodology of church. What you do with those things is now up to YOU.
When considering if church is essential to you it is important to note this nuance that sometimes evades many church goers—we are committed to church because we are committed to God, not the other way around. Why is this important to realize? Because it is ONLY a commitment to God that will make a commitment to church beneficial and enduring as God intended.
People can choose to “not neglect the meeting together” because of familial or cultural expectations and yet as Jesus described this type of people in His day, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Your commitment to church will eventually falter especially if there is not a heart-commitment to God undergirding your reason for being there.
In addition to this may we not soon forget that we should be committed to the church because God was committed to the church. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” (Ephesians 5:25)
When my family and I moved to Alabama, many people of this great state sought to change my college football allegiance and fandom to one of their state teams. They all wanted to know if I would be yelling “Roll Tide” or “War Eagle.” (That’s the chants for Alabama and Auburn respectively. Why a team with the nickname Tigers yells “War Eagle” is still one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries.) As I considered the question of changing the colors of my cheerleading outfit, it didn’t take me long to give a declining answer to both. The reason—because my mind instinctively went back to the commitment my late grandfather and father had to the fandom of the Florida Gators.
All the memories as a fan growing up are special—the incessant heat of the Florida sun, the unrelenting stench of body odor that followed, and then the sticky, late-night drive back home after the game. It really was special! But the commitment to the team from those that I loved and their willingness to do this over and over again surpassed any other reason for commitment and fandom of my own.
Could it be that there will come a day when the only reason you walk into a church on a given Sunday is not because you feel like it or even because you have always done it but because your Heavenly Father is committed to it and therefore you choose to be as well?
As Ben conveys in a fantastic pastorally way: church is not essential because any one person (including us as pastors) said it is but because Christ’s blood proclaimed that it is louder than any words ever could. And, to keep the analogy of Ephesians 5, our relationship with the church should remain committed “till death do us part.”
For in Christ’s case it didn’t even stop there.
In a world where compromise is the word no one dares to say. In a country where every belief is instinctively labeled left or right. And in communities where every person must pick a side even if they once claimed friendships with those on both. This is where you will find those scripting the entries of this page. We welcome you to MIDDLINGS.
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