Don’t Settle for Less

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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. Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

Over the past few weeks I have been around several different pastors who have commented on the changes in the local churches since the Covid-19 pandemic. The most obvious change is simply a drop in attendance from which many have never fully recovered. Net church closings (existing church closings minus new church openings) have increased slightly, but the total number of closings has increased dramatically.

So what’s the big deal? It seems to me that we should think about it. The Bible is pretty clear. In the New Testament, there were some disputes among the brethren as to which day should be called the Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day, as the Gentiles called it. But the argument was always about when to meet, not if.

Evidence from the book of Acts and first-century historical sources indicates that they met regularly, often daily, in one setting or another. The idea of Christianity as something to be practiced in isolation is a foreign concept in the Bible. The decline in attendance in the United States has been going on for decades. It was just accelerated by the Covid scare.

The three complaints (or laments) that I hear most often are a decrease in regular Sunday attendance, a huge decrease in people coming out mid-week, and a decrease in commitment to serve in some way.

So, what happened? Let me postulate just a couple of things:

1. The culturally motivated churchgoers found that they didn’t lose value by staying home (or going to brunch). Their business didn’t suffer. Their social lives weren’t affected. They had seen church as a requirement for social acceptance. They went for the wrong reasons, and those reasons evaporated.
2. Many people have found that they can replace what they thought they needed from church attendance with a digital substitute.

In the past, local churches were the hub of life. Relationships, activities, and community service all flowed through the local assembly. Sunday morning was a time for worship, Bible teaching, and fellowship with others who shared the same values and lifestyle.

With the advent of mass communication, things began to change. The local church began its metamorphosis into a content provider and entertainment venue. The “megachurch” became the only church in the minds of many. I remember going to my first service where the lights in the auditorium were dimmed for worship. I thought I had entered the presence of the devil himself. It felt like a bad marriage between a nightclub and a rock concert.

By the time Covid hit us, many people looked at church as a place to “get fed.” That terminology was common in our Word of Faith circles, and it meant good teaching from the Bible, or at least teaching I agreed with. As the music of the church changed, so did the expectations of the congregants. For many, “good worship” came to mean “good music.” The evaluator of worship is not the worshipper, it’s the one being worshipped.

We now have massive amounts of religious content available on every electronic device. For those who see church as a place to “get fed,” the local church was no longer necessary. I can find a teacher or preacher on my phone who will agree with my every prejudice. For those who enjoy the increasingly rock-concert musical program, the surround sound in their living room was just fine. When the pandemic came, they learned that pajamas were very comfortable attire for bedside assembly.

Here’s the point:

If you are looking for Bible teaching and professional quality music, you can find those things on YouTube. On the other hand, there are some things you can’t get that way.

• You can’t get the current word of the moment for the church or community where God has placed you. God gives that to the local pastors.
• You can’t get the laying on of hands, the primary biblical means of healing and impartation.
• You can’t get the ministry of elders of proven character to watch over your soul and pray for you. Paul said to know those who labor among you. You need some godly people that you know and that know you.
• You don’t have access to the gifts that God has placed in the local assembly for the benefit of all. The Spirit distributes these gifts to different people in the church as He wills. This happens especially when we gather together.
• You can’t find your own gifts and use them to touch others in the body. We need you.
• You can’t access the power of agreement in prayer. It is specifically for when we gather: “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:19-20

I thank God for all the information I find on the Internet. I can listen to classes that would have been out of my reach just a few years ago. I hear points of view and insights in the Word that bless my heart almost daily. But if that were the totality of my Christian experience, I would feel cheated. There is so much more!

Don’t settle for information when you can have impartation. Don’t settle for electronics, get the real thing. Find a church, get there, and let God use His gifts for you and through you.