The Weekly Perspective
by Burke Shade, Associate Pastor
In our day and time many Christians are forgoing the weekly worship of Jesus in an established church, staying at home and reading their bibles or watching a podcast from a Christian speaker. They believe the church has failed, the Evangelical pastorate has failed, and the church won’t fight the culture war. Discipleship online is the way forward.
How do you answer this belief? Biblically and with kindness, of course! There are multiple lines of persuasion (the list below is not exhaustive!).
Stephen calls the people of Israel in the wilderness “the church” in Acts 7, even when pastored by sinful men, such as Moses and Aaron.
The church in Jesus’ day was corrupt, but Jesus never told them to stop worshipping. In fact, he would tell those he healed to go to the priest for ritual cleansing. He also told people to “do as they say, not as they do.”
Matthew 16 gives the church the keys of the kingdom even though Peter was about to deny Christ.
Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
Hebrews 13:17ff says to submit to your leaders who watch over your soul.
Ephesians 4:11-16 teaches us that the church is the body of Christ. You’re not connected to Christ, the head, without being in his body. Jesus has appointed some apostles, and some teachers, for the building up of the body, not just individuals.
1 Corinthians 10-11 emphasizes the importance of feeding on Christ rightly in the body. If you’re not in church, you are also not being nourished weekly with the body and blood of Christ.
Finally, we were never made to live as lone rangers. God is a Trinity and man was designed for communion with Him and with each other.