As we consider needed changes in the year ahead, we should examine the frequency with which we attend opportunities for worship and Bible study. There are two extremes associated with the subject of church attendance. The first is looking for a minimum weekly requirement and the second settles on human tradition as binding authority.
Scripture teaches that congregations of the Lord’s people must meet on the first day of the week to worship the Lord (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Heb, 10:25). The Scripture is silent concerning meeting times and duration of services. Through the centuries these matters have changed according to the needs and circumstances of the day. In a primitive agricultural setting, Sunday services might have been an all-day affair with dinner on the grounds. No Sunday or Wednesday night services. Today we have Bible classes prior to Sunday morning worship services. Sunday evening services seem to have originated as a result of more and more people having jobs that required them to work on Sunday morning. Our Wednesday evening Bible classes used to be mid-week prayer meetings.
Other than meeting with the church on the Lord’s Day for the purpose of engaging in the five acts of worship, the scheduled meetings of the church fall into the area of expediency. As our shepherds, the elders are responsible to feed the flock over which they exercise oversight (1 Pet. 5:1-3; Acts 20:28). There are different ways the elders can make sure the church is being spiritually fed. They can go from house to house teaching the flock or, because of time limitations, it may be expedient for them to ask the church to gather for special feedings from God’s word. These meetings include Sunday School classes, Sunday evening services, and Wednesday night classes. From time to time, our shepherds provide other opportunities such as gospel meetings, VBS, seminars, and retreats. Our participation in these opportunities not only demonstrates love and devotion for God and one another; it also shows respect for God’s leadership in the church.
Attendance is not a matter of following tradition or seeking the minimum required devotion in order to stand right with God. If being together for study and worship is merely something we do because we have to do it, then we have altogether missed the point. Early Christians met daily “devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). They had no church buildings. They had no church bulletin. They had no appointed time for mid-week Bible study. They had singleness of mind and devotion to learn more and more of God’s word. May God richly bless us to this end.
Glen Elliott