CHURCH-ATTENDANCE
Nonattendance,
in the early years of our church, was considered one of the most sinister of
sins, because it usually veiled all the other sins. When someone began to be in sin, you would
expect them to stop attending.
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway,
2000, p. 171.
The fruits of
the Holy Spirit are, it seems to me, largely fruits of
sustained interaction with God. Just as
a child picks up traits more or less simply by dwelling in the presence of her
parent, so the Christian develops tenderheartedness, compassion, humility,
forgiveness, joy, and hope through “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” – that
is, by dwelling in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. And this means, to a very large extent,
living in a community of serious believers.
The Reformed Journal (Feb. 1987),
Christianity Today, v. 32, n. 10.
An avoidable
absence from church is an infallible evidence of spiritual decay.
Frances Ridley Havergal
Being
disconnected from the local church, for whatever reason, is a dangerous way to live. Not only do
these “ lone rangers” miss out on the blessings of
functioning within the context of the body of Christ, but like lone sheep away
from the safety of the flock and the watchful care of the shepherd, they are
vulnerable to predators of every sort.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Holiness, The Heart God Purifies, Moody
Publishers, p. 137.
No Excuse
Sunday: Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, “Sunday is my only
day to sleep in.” We have steel helmets
for those who say, “The roof would cave in if I ever came to church.” Blankets will be furnished for those who
think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot. We have hearing aids for those who say, “The
preacher speaks too softly,” and cotton balls for those who say, “He preaches
too loudly.” Score cards will be available
for those who wish to list the hypocrites present. Some relatives will be in attendance for
those who like to go visiting on Sundays.
There will be TV dinners for those who can’t go to church and cook
dinner also. One section will be devoted
to trees and grass for those who like to worship God in nature. Finally, the sanctuary will be decorated with
Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen the
church without them.
Author Unknown
From a Church Bulletin.
Going to
church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you
an automobile.
Billy Sunday
On the most
elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married
either. But in both cases if you do not,
you will have a very poor relationship.
Kent Hughes
Disciplines of a Godly Man, Crossway Books,
1991, p. 165.
Another
reason for the de-churching of many Christians is the historic individualism of
evangelical Christianity and the grass-roots American impulse against
authority. The natural inclination is to
think that one needs only an individual relationship with Christ and needs no
other authority. Such thinking produces
Christian Lone Rangers who demonstrate their authenticity by riding not to
church, but out to the badlands, reference Bible in hand, to do battle
single-handedly with the outlaw world.
Kent Hughes
Disciplines of a Godly Man, Crossway Books,
1991, p. 160.
Church
attendance is infected with a malaise of conditional loyalty which has produced
an army of ecclesiastical hitchhikers. The hitchhiker's thumb says, "You
buy the car, pay for repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with
gas--and I'll ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own!
And I'll probably sue." So it is
with the credo of so many of today's church attenders:
"You go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you
grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills--and
I'll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I'll complain and
probably bail out--my thumb is always out for a better ride."
Kent Hughes
Disciplines of a Godly Man. Christianity
Today, v. 36, n. 6.
The problem
with conservative churches is not that they lack members. The problem is that many of those members are
not converted. Millions of members of
evangelical churches are absent from worship services each Sunday and are
equally absent from Christian living during the rest of the week. Biblical illiteracy and unethical conduct by
Christians seem to be on the rise. Many
people who attend are indifferent to the truths of Christianity, and others are
divisive, even mean-spirited.
Paul House
Who Will Be Saved? Edited
by: House, Paul and Thornbury, Gregory. Crossway, 2000, p. 164.
The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.
John Wesley
When you were
born, your mother brought you to church.
When you were
married, your wife brought you to church.
When you die,
your friends will bring you to church.
Why not try
coming to church on your own sometime?
James Denney
Hodder
and Stoughton, Studies in Theology: The Church and the Kingdom of God, 1895, p.
173.
Objection: I can profit as much by staying at home and
reading the Scripture or some good book; it is the word of God which they
preach, and it is that which I read at home.
The books that are written by learned men are better than the sermons
that are preached by our ministers.
Answer: What foolish pretences are these against the
plain command of God and our own necessary duty! When God hath appointed you your duty, will
He allow you to forsake it upon your own reason, as if you were wiser than God,
and knew what will profit you better than He?
Richard Baxter
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
2000, p. 57
To gather with God's people in united
adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.
Martin Luther
They who would grow in grace, must love
the habitation of God’s house. It is those that are planted in the courts of
the Lord who shall flourish, and not those that are occasionally there.
John Angell James
Though true
Christianity uniquely involves a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it is
also a corporate experience. Christians
cannot grow spiritually as they ought to in isolation from one another.
Gene Getz
Encouraging One Another,
Victor Books, 1985, p. 10
An empty tomb
proves Christianity; an empty church denies it.
Author Unknown
There are
those, particularly in our day, who are so disenchanted with the visible church
that they steadfastly refuse to join any local church. Such a posture is misguided and involves
overt disobedience to the commands of Christ.
Though it is possible for a believer to be confused about this for a
season, someone who persists in such a posture is, in all probability, not a
believer. It is the duty of every
Christian to join a visible church.
R.C. Sproul
The Purpose of God, An
Exposition of Ephesians, Christian Focus Publications, 1994, p. 89