It’s Just Not the Same
Recently, my wife and I were away from our church family for two consecutive Sundays. In fact, we were unable be with any other people “…who have obtained like precious faith with us…” (2 Peter 1:1).
We were sure that this would be the case on the first Sunday and thought that it might be the case on the second Sunday. For that reason, we had prepared for that eventuality.
At least we thought we had prepared.
We had made arrangements to do all that we normally do on the Lord’s day. We took with us what was needed to remember His death as we ate the unleavened bread and thought of His body that hung on the cross. We also took with us the fruit of the vine that reminded us of His precious blood that was shed for us.
We had made arrangements for our contribution to be included in the collection “back home.” Since the Lord blesses us each week, we give to His cause each week whether we are “at home” or not. Our understanding of 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 motivates us to do that.
We sang, from memory, hymns of praise. Since we were in an environment that demonstrated some God’s wonderful creation, some of those songs focused on that.
Of course, we offered prayer to our Father just as we do every Lord’s day — and every other day for that matter.
Thanks to modern technology, we even heard wonderful lessons from God’s Word. I had downloaded to my smartphone some sermons that had been preached by our son. It shouldn’t surprise anybody that we appreciated listening to them. I think it did surprise him to learn that he had preached in both Tennessee and Alaska one week and Tennessee and Canada the next.
However, even with all of that preparation, something was missing. Even though we did everything we normally do on Sunday, it was just not the same.
I’ve already mentioned what was different.
We were not with our church family.
Have you ever noticed how many of the epistles in the New Testament were written to individual congregations of God’s people? Do you think there might be a reason for that? Doesn’t it seem to you that the Lord never intended for individual Christians to live in isolation?
Have you ever noticed how many times you read the phrase “one another” as it applies to Christians? Just a small sampling would indicate that we are to:
- …love one another (John 13:34; 15:12, 17; Romans 13:8, et al.)
- …serve one another (Galatians 5:13)
- …comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
- …bear with one another (cf. Colossians 3:13)
- …forgive one another (cf. Colossians 3:13)
People who are not already actively and regularly involved in a good, sound, loving, serving congregation of God’s people have no idea what they are missing. To those who believe they can “do their own thing” and have a rich, deep, meaningful worship experience, I would say that it’s just not the same as being with your brothers and sisters and worshiping God together.
Hebrews 10:25 may be seen by some as an isolated piece of legislation. The interpretation that some seem to have of this verse is, “I’ve got to go to church to stay out of trouble with God.”
While we should, in fact, want to do all we can to live up to His expectations, I believe that a second look at this verse might be appropriate. If we couple it with the preceding verse (which is another one of those “one another” passages), we might gain a little more insight.
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
(Heb. 10:24-25, ESV).
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