They had changed so much. Anyone who’d known them over the years could not believe the changes they had made. And they were unashamed to tell people that it was Jesus who had changed them.
They had both been addicted to meth, and dealing it too. CPS had taken their children away. They had been in and out of jail. They had been in and out of court appointed rehab. Their lives were a mess, a real mess, and they knew it.
Then one day they ran into old friend who invited them to church. For some strange reason they went.
They were nervous. They sat in the back. It felt like everybody was staring at them. One of the ushers came over to them. They thought for sure he was going ask them to leave. Instead he extended his hand and warmly welcomed them. Several other people came over and also welcomed them.
Their friend arrived to sit with them just as the music started. Pretty soon everyone was standing and clapping their hands. It was strange to the couple how happy everyone seemed.
The pastor was an older man. As he talked, they felt like he was speaking directly to them.
“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. There is nothing, no mistake, no sin, nothing! That can separate you from the love of God!”
He asked people who wanted to invite Jesus into their lives to raise their hands. They both did, and that’s when the changes began. Within weeks they were reading their bibles and praying together. They had joy and peace like they had never known before.
They went to every service, and anything else happening at the church. Soon a year had passed, then two years. They continued faithfully…until that one beautiful summer Sunday, they went to the beach.
Over the next year, other things began pull them away from church. Housework. Family get-togethers. Their kid’s athletic games. Watching football. Sleeping in. They even visited other churches.
Someone from the church ran into them at the store and asked where they had been.
“We have church at home.”
The answer was true. On Sundays when they weren’t doing other things, they would pray together, and sometimes read their bibles together, then they would watch a televangelist that they both enjoyed.
Over time, things they had felt were wrong and even sinful before, were now entering their lives. The joy and the peace they had experienced earlier was mostly gone. Rarely now, if ever, did they tell people about the changes that Jesus had made in their lives, because no one asked.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:25)
There’s something about going to church that is irreplaceable in the life of a follower of Christ. Certainly there is strength and growth that can and should be gained from fellowship outside of church, but not at the expense of being connected to a local church.
You may fellowship in a home church, but you’re unlikely to find much contrast and growth in the relationships—because the group is, by definition, highly selective and exclusive. There will be little iron-sharpening-iron, nor struggles to get along with believers you don’t agree with.
“Just me and Jesus”
Being a loner is profoundly off-center from the New Testament record of a church learning to respond to widows neglected in daily rationing (Acts 6:1-7); or the disharmony between individuals (Philippians 4:2). And then there is the constant exhortation to “preserve unity” (Ephesians 4:3), and not to forsake gathering together “as is the habit of some” (Hebrews 10:25).
Missing church to enjoy family, friends, and other activities is not a damnable sin that guarantees spiritual collapse. Nor does being in a church service every week guarantee spiritual success.
But make no mistake; there are many ungodly and spiritually dangerous reasons why individuals get tempted to draw away from regular church involvement. For example, Proverbs 18:1 explains that some people separate themselves in order to pursue their own “desire,” unchallenged by the wisdom of others. Sometimes, the lying whispers of slanderers divide and scatter a flock (Proverbs 16:28; 17:9). Self-seekers, fault-finders and worldly-minded people can also create divisions (see 3 John 1:9-11 and Jude 1:16-19).
Lasting spiritual results almost always require some kind of structure, and that’s what God ordained for the local church. Of course, having too much structure can kill spontaneous life and vitality; but where there is little or no structure, there is little submission and instruction that will lead to lasting spiritual fruit.
Many people have received love, mending, healing, training and spiritual empowerment at church, causing changes so great in their lives that everyone around them could notice. But too many people have allowed these changes to give way to other things, and soon their spiritual lives become dry and unfruitful. When it came time to “grow up” and exchange the thrill of receiving ministry for the responsibility doing ministry, they found no use for the very place/process that God used so mightily in their lives.
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