I am disquieted sometimes by the fact that so many seemingly mature Christians are basing their faithfulness to God on the fact that they attend services regularly.  Maybe the fault for such thinking lies with we gospel preachers who repeatedly emphasize that attendance is a sure sign of faithfulness.  But it should be clear that while attendance is certainly a sign of faithfulness, it not the only sign.  Far too may Christians have put their trust in the fact that they don’t miss much.

 

Now, I certainly wouldn’t want to de-emphasize the value of faithful attendance (Hebrews 10:23-25); and it is certainly one of the most visible signs of a person’s devotion to God.  However, we need to remember that there is more to living the Christian life than merely assembling for worship and mutual edification.  Actually, what regular attendance does is get God’s people ready to go out into the world and live the Christian life. While there are some who have not yet learned that faithful saints will want to attend regularly, we need to remember that there’s more to being a Christian than being present.

 

The Christian life is just that –a life. It can’t be turned on and off like a faucet, but it is a continual daily routine–a life lived.  As long as we are alive and functional, we’re responsible for living a life of service to God.  For instance when Paul told the Thessalonians (I Thess. 5:17) to “pray without ceasing,” he is not suggesting that life is to be one long, never-ending prayer.  He is saying that Christians should pray consistently– every day. When he says, in Romans 12:2, “present your bodies a living sacrifice,” he means there must be a continuing process of personal presentation, a life that is daily committed to Christ.  And when, in Colossians 3:2, he tells us to “set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth,” he does not intend that his assignment is a one time commitment, but rather a constant, steady life of service.

 

For instance:

 

Attitudes must be developed and maintained–every day.  It’s not enough to be spiritually inclined on Sunday; good spiritual inclination has to be a part of one’s everyday life. Even though our worship services–singing, praying, observing the Lord’s Supper–all require a good attitude in order to be acceptable, there are still attitudinal things necessary in our day-to-day activities–like being a good parent, a good citizen, a good, strong proponent and proclaimer of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16-17).  Our day-to-day activities call for good dispositions, good inclinations, good mental directions. These attitudes need to grow and prosper–all the time. “If these things (faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love) be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 1:5-8).  And how is all this is to be done?  “Giving all diligence” (verse 5, verse 10).   “All” is “every day,” right?

 

Then, there is strength of character, moral stance that has to be regularly maintained. Virtue–moral courage–is found only in a faith that is strong enough to stand in the face of constant dangers and abuse. While we do not fear physical abuse in our age (and we should be grateful for that), we nonetheless have pressures applied in various, subtle ways every day. These temptations and pressures usually come at times when other saints are not present to hold up our hands. These are times when we must stand on our own, even when it’s difficult. But stand, we must (Ephesians 6:11-f).  Virtue has to be cultivated, worked at.  Every day.

 

We all have to grow. Personally. And spiritual growth is not a one-day-a-week process, either. We have to stand firmly on a fixed faith, one which is constantly being renewed by a regular and intimate association with the word of God (II Timothy 2:15).  And we would do well to remember that Christianity is an individual matter, that eventually, “every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess” (Romans 14:11). 

 

Certainly, regular attendance at the services of the church is of considerable value in  helping us to develop and maintain of our moral character; and I worry about some who don’t attend as they should.  But faithfulness doesn’t  end with the last “Amen.”