Christian, Cherish The Church

It's time Christians of New Zealand come to revere the gathering of the church each Lord's day as they ought. We have lost the gravity and awe of what God does among His people in their faithful assembling. Why else are so many professed believers foolishly willing to forego at every opportunity their part in the coming together of the church? One author said, "meeting isn't just something churches do as if it were an additional feature which is a good idea. A meeting is, in part, what a church is." So for what purpose does God call us to gather?

In the first place, God gathers His church especially to declare the praise of His mighty name. To make much of Christ. C.S Lewis said that "The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God". The adoration of God in Christ Jesus must be the defining mark of our coming together. We do so not through human creativity but as regulated by scripture. Avoid at all costs that place where entertainment and emotionalism are sold as worship — lest you find yourself dancing before the golden calf of our day. We worship God corporately as the church through certain means alone. These means include the preaching and teaching of the scripture, congregational singing, corporate prayer, the Lord's supper and baptism. When conducted with reverence and order, God fills His people's minds and hearts with love for Christ that they might ascribe the praise due Him in Spirit and in truth.

Secondly, God gathers His church to strengthen and sanctify her in the faith. Avoiding the local church is a sure way to drift into a spiritual wilderness. In fact, I do not know a strong Christian who is not committed to a local church. Sitting under faithful biblical preaching, sharing the Lord's supper and witnessing baptisms are not just good ideas! They are God's means afresh of declaring His love to the church in the gospel of Jesus Christ. God nurtures believers in many ways outside of the corporate gathering. But the regular assembling of the church is the principal place where God sanctifies and refines His people in Christ. We all have a part to play in the gathering too. If you are in Christ you have a role in equipping, serving and edifying other believers through exercising your various gifts. Such is why Paul says "For the body is not one member, but many." (1 Corinthians 12:14). We are not saved in isolation, but as individuals part of a corporate and universal body, each with a God-given part to play in her sanctification.

Finally, God gathers His church as a witness before the world. One author rightly said that "worship is protest". You see, there is a worship war going on in this world. And in the gathering of the church, we see a dissent, a condemnation of all that the world tries to put in the place of God. The church testifies of Christ's eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken. It decries the false gods of our day, it proclaims a message of salvation in Christ alone, testifying of sin, judgment and the imminent return of Christ. A gathering regulated by scripture and grounded in the gospel needn't rely on pragmatism, tricks and gimmicks to reach the world for Christ. And while the church is never to gather with a focus on the unbeliever, it never forgets them either. For that which we celebrate each week is the same message God uses to save those witnessing the gathering. Such is why Paul argues that "the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you." (1 Corinthians 14:25).

I trust these reasons alone will stir you to cherish, promote and defend the sacred assembling of Christ's people. "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another" (Hebrews 10:24–25).