How Much More Will We Give?
Often, I write (or at least jot down the main ideas for) my posts a few days–or sometimes weeks–in advance. But there are times when that schedule gets changed and I feel as if I need to write something “in the moment,” even if it means I know some people are going to be upset; maybe even angry. Today is one of those days, but first, a couple of “admissions.”
Admission #1 is where this post came from. I was saddened Sunday night. As I saw pictures flood in of Christian young people trick-or-treating or having Halloween parties while congregations were meeting for evening worship services across the country, it made my heart sink.
Admission #2 is that there is no command in the New Testament to worship more than once on the Lord’s Day. We are commanded to assemble on that day of the week (Acts 20:7; cf. Hebrews 10:25), but the number of times we meet on that day is not specified. That detail–the time and number of times to meet on Sunday–is clearly left up to each local eldership as a matter of expedience.
That said, last Sunday night was sad in many ways, because it was further proof of how much ground we continue to give to the culture by “small” times where we cave. For example…
…for many congregations, it has been a tradition for a long time to “just happen” to have an earlier Sunday evening service (or none at all) on Super Bowl Sunday.
…when Christmas has fallen on Sunday, some congregations have actually cancelled all services.
…for individual families, ball games are now common on Sundays, so we make sure our kids don’t miss those, because “their team needs them.”
And I have to wonder: did we even blink an eye when so many municipalities “just happened” to not move trick-or-treating off Sunday this year as they used to? On the contrary, many Christian families decided to forgo worship so their kids could take part. Others decided to have a family (or small group) worship in lieu of their local congregation’s worship so their kids would not miss trick-or-treating.
Is it not worth asking: How much more are we going to give in?
Now, not every congregation has Sunday evening services–especially as they continue to navigate coming out of covid. I get that. As I have already said, that is up to each congregation’s eldership. However, some congregations–including the one of which I am honored to be a member–did have Sunday evening services this past Sunday, and Christian families just decided that Halloween was more important than the leadership and shepherding of their elders, who desired that God’s people meet together.
At what point will we realize that, each time we put something else before the Lord and His people, we are losing ground (1) to the culture, and (2) with our own children?
The next time we invite someone to a Vacation Bible School, but it conflicts with a ball game, why would they take us seriously if we miss services for our own ball games?
The next time we tell our kids that we are going to services even though we are on vacation, what are we going to say when they ask why we didn’t go on Halloween?
The next time we tell our children that we respect our congregation’s elders, how can we say that with a straight face when the elders expect us to attend services, but we just choose to go when we feel like it or when it doesn’t conflict with something else in our lives?
When we have our own services just so our kids can trick-or-treat or do something else, why would we ever take seriously placing membership at a congregation? After all, why not just meet whenever and where ever we want anyway?
Yes, I was sad…
…but I was also supremely grateful for those families that DID put God first. They have children, some very young and some teenagers. And their children may not have gotten a lot of candy or the whole traditional “Halloween experience.”
But they got something of eternal value: a lesson that God always comes first. That’s something they simply will not forget. It is the greatest “treat” any parent could ever give and it shows the culture around us that their “tricks” do not work on us!
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
