The REAL value of church
Why do you go to church?
If you were to ask followers of Jesus this question today, many would say, "To worship God," or something similar. What's interesting about this response is they are completely missing the point of church.
This is not to say we shouldn't worship God during a church gathering. Obviously we should. However, we don't need to attend church to worship God. We can do that in our living room, on our commute, or while lying in bed. In fact, we can worship with amazing musicians and listen to incredible sermons all by ourselves. Just load it on our phone, put in some earbuds, go for a walk, and we're golden.
If that were the point of church.
But it isn't.
So, then, why church? We do not gather simply to worship God, but to worship God together. In other words, the greatest value of gathering is not for the vertical plane of relationship, but the horizontal plane.
For example, one often-quoted passage about gathering is Hebrews 10:24-25. Let's take a look at what it says:
"Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches."
~ Hebrews 10:24-25
Why does the author of Hebrews tell us to keep gathering together? To encourage one another (horizontal plane).
Inversely, let's look at 1 Corinthians 11, where Paul is mentions the sordid side of the Corinthian church gatherings:
"Your worship services do you more harm than good. I am certainly not going to praise you for this. I am told you can't get along with each other when you worship, and I am sure that some of what I have heard is true. You are bound to argue with each other...
When you meet together, you don't really celebrate the Lord's Supper. You even start eating before everyone gets to the meeting, and some of you go hungry, while others get drunk. Don't you have homes where you can eat and drink? Do you hate God's church? Do you want to embarrass people who don't have anything? What can I say to you? I certainly cannot praise you."
~ 1 Corinthians 11:17-22
Why does Paul critique the church gatherings in Corinth? Because they were arguing with each other and they were mistreating the poor during their meals together (horizontal plane).
In fact, most of the New Testament church commands are plural (addressing one another) and deal with the horizontal plane.
Again, do not hear what I'm not saying. There is great value in worshipping God in church (vertical plane). But you can do that at home by yourself as well. You know what you can't do by yourself? Be in community (horizontal plane). You can't worship together, or share a meal together, or encourage one another, or lay hands on and pray for each other.
PAUSE and REFLECT: Let me ask again -- why do you go to church? If up to now you've primarily thought of church gatherings as the time and place to go and worship God, I invite you to change your thinking. Instead of focusing solely on the "worship God" part of church, better align your thinking with Scripture and give more focus to the "together" part of church.
God is with you Sunday to Sunday. Your opportunities to worship him throughout the week abound. Your church community, however, is with you in entirety only when you gather together.
What is one thing you can do this Sunday to give due emphasis to the togetherness of worshiping God together?
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