We live in a culture where church involvement is valued less and less. Even among believers, more people seem willing to spend the Lord’s Day doing anything other than gathering with the saints. Some claim to love Jesus and long to be with him and his people for all of eternity—just not on a Sunday morning.

Perhaps some are rebelling against hypocrisy or inconsistency they have witnessed among churchgoers. Maybe, for some, church attendance never became more than a religious ritual that seemed irrelevant. Or, perhaps, everyone has become too busy, and church just isn't high on the priority list. When asked, the common response is something along the lines of:

• "I don't need to go to a building to meet with God."

• "I can read my Bible and pray anywhere."

• "I love Jesus, but I'm against organized religion."

Of course we can meet with God anywhere, but is that a good reason to dismiss ourselves from a local church? Thankfully, God’s word isn't silent.

You Need the Local Church

We are all likely familiar with the admonition in Hebrews 10:24-25:

"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."

This well-known passage reminds us that we need to meet together with God's people. Doing so stirs our affections toward the Lord and provokes us to do good works. We need brothers and sisters to encourage us and pray for us. We need people in our life who will correct us in grace and love. Our hearts cannot always be trusted, so we depend upon others to help us see our blind spots.

God has provided the local church to be this kind of spiritual community. If we are not involved in a local church, if we are not living our lives with people we have covenanted with, or if we are attempting to live out a "it's between me and Jesus" kind of spiritually, then our spiritual growth will be stunted. Thus, the Lord warns us not to neglect this very important time together.

Protection From A Hard Heart

Hebrews 3 also reminds us of our need for Christian brothers and sisters:

"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

What will protect us against a hard heart? Exhortation from our brothers and sisters in Christ! The regular gathering of the saints is a God-ordained community for that very purpose.

Christ is the head who provides nourishment to the rest of the body, and every believer needs this nourishment. If we cut ourselves off from the body of Christ for a prolonged period, we are in danger of becoming blind to our own sin and having our heart slowly hardened.

It is true that we can worship God anywhere, but God has designed the gathering to do what can't be done alone in your living room. God didn't call us to serve him merely as an individual...he called us to be a part of the whole body, where we worship together and exhort one another.

Is it messy when sinners gather? Yes. There will be issues and effects from our sin. But God in his wisdom has decided to use other believers for our sanctification and our good. We can't become holy by ourselves.

It’s Not Just About You

Ephesians 4 says that God gives each believer gifts, "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." Being a part of the body of Christ means using my gifts, my energy, and my resources to help the body grow in spiritual health and vitality.

However, we are often self-centered in our thinking about church. Too often, we only consider what we can get out of it. We rarely consider how our presence, or absence, affects others.

If you are a believer, then the body of Christ needs YOU, and the specific gifts that God has given you. He has equipped you and called you to use your gifts and talents for the benefit of the church. Just like you need the encouragement, prayers, rebukes, etc. of others, they need those very same things from you!

To do this, we must be committed to the local church. Yes, there is a universal church made up of believers across the world, but to serve and use our gifts as instructed by Scripture, we must be a part of a local gathering of the redeemed. If we are not gathering with the body of Christ, we rob others of the blessing intended to flow through us.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." Just like it would be harmful for your physical body if you cut off one part of it, so when you cut yourself off from the body of Christ, you hurt the whole body.

A Picture of Heaven

In Revelation 7:9-12, we see a glimpse of heaven as multitudes of people gather around the throne to praise God:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Even in heaven, we will gather with the saints to praise God! The only time we get a glimpse of Revelation 7 on this earth is when the redeemed gather together in person and worship him.

You can sing songs and have devotionals to the Lord in your house (and you should!), but they don’t paint a Revelation 7 picture. When the church congregates each week, she provides a beautiful foreshadowing of believers gathered around the throne in heaven. It's the only picture like it on earth!

Don’t Miss God’s Best For You

We show that we are a part of the people of God (universal church) by showing up and gathering regularly with the people of God (local church). Where we choose to spend our time will expose what we truly value; what we prioritize reflects our true beliefs. When we prioritize the local church gathering, we show our children that church is not an empty religious ritual, but a needed community of saints saved by grace and committed to one another. As we meet each week, we show this broken world a picture of the coming kingdom where God's people will be gathered around the throne as one praising his name.

Don't miss what God has intended for you, and what he intends to do through you as the saints meet together. Yes, there are a thousand other things we could do instead, but what could possibly be more beautiful than uniting with the body of Christ? Anything else we prioritize over the church gathering pales in comparison.

For the glory of God, our good, and the good of others, let us not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some.