Meanwhile, Away from the Assembly…
There is no scriptural
authority for the local church sponsoring social activities such as common
meals, sports teams, movie nights, church lock-ins, clubs for singles or
divorcees, and the like. Churches that
do engage these functions often lean on a more liberal view of what the
scriptures teach regarding the work of the local church to justify these kinds
of social activities; if part of the work of the church is to edify and
encourage one another and to have “fellowship” then can’t the local church pay
for these activities, or so it’s argued.
Local churches of Christ who do engage in these practices might consider
simply releasing the financial involvement of the church to the individual members who have every right
to organize and engage in such practices out
of their own personal means.
Churches of Christ that collectively involve themselves in worldly
practices and work are in danger of leaving the primary work of spreading the
Gospel and becoming more and more like other worldly social institutions (John
17:14-17).
But, while some
churches with a less conservative view of what scriptures authorize on these
matters overswing and miss the ball, many more conservative churches who
abstain from such collective practices often under swing on what the scriptures do teach regarding the
relationships and social mandates of a local church, that is, of the individual members. Consider the following commandments given to
the people of God under the law of Christ.
Hebrews 3:13 says,
“Exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
The individual members have a responsibility to exhort one another day
by day, that is, each day. Now, we
aren’t authorized to have a church bowling team that
Galatians 5:13 says
that we are to, “by love, serve one another.”
Surely that does not refer to serving one another just on Sundays and
(maybe) Wednesdays at the church building.
So, a church not so concerned with what the scriptures mean by this
might set up a church sponsored service ministry, and the church sponsors
regular visitations to members’ homes who need regular help around the house,
someone to go shopping for them, etc.
But will we condemn this kind of practice but not make any individual effort to do regular
service for one another? Sometimes, this
involves being ready to serve where needed: someone calls you and says I need
this and you jump on the task without grumbling. However, should we not also take the
initiative with this obligation: ask people how you can help them, even if they don’t come to you first. Look for opportunities to serve. There are many needs that local members have
that they may not be comfortable in asking help with, but who long for someone
to simply ask, “What can I help you with?”
And, if you are asked, sometimes you might have to think of a need, but
give your brother or sister an opportunity to serve and also the opportunity to
spend time with you.
Galatians 6:2 teaches
we are to “Bear one another’s burdens.”
It is sad to suddenly learn about some difficulty a brother or sister
has had for years of which they never spoke a word to anyone. On one hand, we condemn brothers and sisters
for simply not attending services regularly, but on the other hand, know absolutely
nothing about what is going on in that individual’s life, about the many
burdens that they must bear alone, about how the weight of those burdens is
squeezing the faithfulness out of them.
But we must at least try to get to know our brethren, know about their
burdens, offer to help them bear those burdens so that their faith remains
intact. Surely, they will be accountable
for their own decisions, but we will be accountable for whether or not we tried
to help them. Again, how can we bear one
another’s burdens if we have no relationship outside of the little building on
831 W Pleasant Run?
Hebrews 10:24 says,
“let us consider one another, and provoke one another to love and good
works.” Sometimes it’s hard to do what’s
right on one’s own. How much easier it
is when your fellow believer is there with you to encourage and provoke
you! There are many good works in which
we ought to be engaged. Again, a group
who believes scripture justifies church-sponsored action in all good works acts
liberally when they reach into the contribution collected from the saints to
pay for ministries to do these good works.
But we are required to do the good
works (!), and many churches with a more conservative view of scripture
fail miserably in keeping this mandate. Individual
Christians must necessarily get together from time to time, reach into their
own pockets if necessary, set aside their own time, and find good works to
do. Galatians 6:10 clearly specifies
that good works ought to be done for all in the world AND for those in the
household of faith. But if we only see
each other two days a week for two or three hours, how can we do this?
Brothers and sisters,
let us seek opportunities to get to know one another, to encourage one another,
to spend time with one another, to support and love one another, to have true
relationships with one another in our daily lives. In Acts 2:42-47, after many souls came
together in Christ, what kind of relationship did they have with one
another? Was it detached and impersonal,
or did it appear they were growing together in spirit and truth? Look at the many examples of the first
century churches, working together, spending time in each other’s homes,
building their relationship day by day, not just satisfied (sometimes grudgingly)
mechanically dragging themselves to a once or twice a week meeting.
Ask yourself: what more
can I do to develop my daily relationship with the local church? Remember that the church is the PEOPLE, not
only when they are assembled at the building but ALL WEEK! We assemble at the building to sing, to pray,
to worship, to remember the death of our Savior, but there are so many other
significant responsibilities we have that we must regularly do for each other
away from the building; if we fail to do those things for one another which are
commanded, we are just as badly off as “forsaking the assembly.” – Jeremy
Koontz
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