When I was growing up, my family rarely ate out. Going to a restaurant was an occasional treat, but our daily diet was filled with my mom’s home-cooked meals. We were healthier for it.

As Christians, God’s Word is our spiritual food, and our spiritual health is affected by how we’re fed. In Acts 2, we see that the early church flourished as believers were devoted to the apostles’ teaching, broke bread and prayed together, and attended the temple together day by day. This was how the church grew in knowledge, unity, and size. And it’s still how believers and local churches can flourish today.

However, I’ve observed a concerning trend in recent years: Christians going to their local church on Sunday but devoting much more time and attention to online resources—podcasts, YouTube videos, sermons from other churches—for their spiritual nourishment.

Nothing is inherently wrong with using other resources to help grow your knowledge and love for God and his people, but online resources are best used as a supplement rather than a primary source of nourishment. Our primary discipleship, through preaching and teaching, should come from the pastor and saints of the local church where we’re covenant members—our home church.

Why We Need to Eat at Home

Let me offer three reasons why eating at home is good for the church and the saint.

1. Gathering promotes growth.

Hearing a great sermon online is just that—hearing a great sermon. Perhaps you glean some new knowledge or personal application, but you miss the communal blessing of receiving God’s Word alongside God’s people.

When you sit under your pastor’s teaching while gathered with the saints at your local church, you have the opportunity to discuss, apply, and collectively use the preached Word as a tool for discipling one another.

Online resources are best used as a supplement rather than a primary source of nourishment.

As Hebrews 10:24–25 exhorts us, “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.”

Growth happens most profoundly when saints gather regularly, sitting under teaching from the man of God assigned to their local flock, serving together, waging war against sin together, and praying together. Where this is lacking, spiritual malnutrition is often present.

2. Comparison can breed discontent.

The online community is full of pastors and Bible teachers with all manner of personalities and teaching styles. Some are charming, enthusiastic, and relatable—perhaps all the things you wish your pastor was. Or maybe that describes your pastor, but you prefer teachers who are academic, calm, and steady.

I’m not saying we should never listen to other teachers. But when we spend a lot of time listening to a curated selection of pastors online, we can begin to compare our pastor to them and grow discontent with our overseer—the one God has given spiritual authority over us (1 Pet. 5:1–3) and the one who must give account for our souls (Heb. 13:17).

Discontentment among church members can make our pastor’s shepherding of us a burden, not a joy as it’s meant to be. And as Hebrews 13:17 points out, “that would be of no advantage to [us].”

3. Unity is easily lost.

Ephesians 4:3 calls us to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (NIV). This verse implies unity can be lost without intentional effort.

Imagine I’m heavily influenced by a particular pastor on YouTube, other members are seeking discipleship from a popular Instagram influencer, and still others are relying on a heavy diet of podcasts. We could come to identify more with an online community united around a particular personality or aspect of doctrine and practice than with the embodied community in our local church.

We may be in danger of becoming like the quarreling Corinthian church that Paul admonished because some identified as followers of Paul, others of Apollos, and still others of Cephas (1 Cor. 1:12–13).

Ultimately, we follow Christ and are united with other believers under his lordship. But one way we can guard the unity of our local body is by devoting our time and attention to following our pastor as he follows Christ, rather than spending a lot of time following online teachers.

How We Can Eat at Home

We’re free to enjoy the teaching gifts of others, but wisdom calls for discretion and moderation. Here are a few practical ways we can make our local churches our primary place of spiritual development.

1. Listen attentively to your pastor’s teaching on Sunday and again during the week. Replay your pastor’s sermon, asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand and apply it at a deeper level. Talk about it with fellow church members and perhaps even reach out to your pastor with questions and encouragement.

2. Take advantage of other opportunities to sit under teaching in your local church outside the weekly worship service. For example, many churches gather for Sunday school classes, a midweek Bible study or prayer meeting, and small groups.

3. If you listen to online sermons or podcasts, make sure the teacher is theologically sound so the teaching will supplement your church’s discipleship rather than detract from it. If you need help identifying likeminded pastors and teachers to stream, ask your pastor or elders for recommendations.

We’re free to enjoy the teaching gifts of others, but wisdom calls for discretion and moderation.

Saints, the local church is the most important institution on the planet. Technology has given us access to vast resources that can be a blessing. But let’s not forget that God’s primary provision for our spiritual growth is found in our local church.

Commit to a church—worship there, serve there, give there, and grow there. After all, there’s no place like home.

News Source : https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/danger-online-sermons/