If you aren’t reading the 9 Marks Newsletters then you should start. They’re packed full of well written, useful writings. I honestly get excited each time I get a notification in my inbox that a new one has been released.

The most recent newsletter includes an item from Greg Gilbert who brings his reader to the book of Hebrews, offering exegetical insight as to how Christians are to relate to one another. Specifically, he encourages readers to “plot and provoke” one another to good works in light of Hebrews 10:19-25. You most likely know 24-25 well: And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Gilbert rightly calls these verses “perhaps the Bible’s clearest statement of a Christian’s obligation to attend a local church” – they are indeed. He goes on to explain:

At the very least, therefore, we have to say that, for every Christian, attendance at church gatherings is not optional. The author of Hebrews—and therefore the Holy Spirit himself—commands Christians to be present when the believers to whom he or she belongs gather.

Very practically, this means that we may have to rearrange our schedules to make time for the gathering of the saints. Work schedules may have to shift. Homework may have to be done at some other time. Reports may have to be filed earlier or later. Most churches meet no more than two or three hours a week, which still leaves somewhere in the area of 145 hours for getting these other things done. According to Hebrews, encouraging and stirring up other believers ought to be at the top of every Christian’s priority list, and that means attending the public gatherings of the church.

Fair enough – I completely affirm what it is he’s saying here. It’s a good antidote to the common misunderstanding that “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian” (which, of course is true. You just have to go to church to be obedient to the Word which is the mark of a true Christians.)

What I want to know is this: What is considered not forsaking? You and I both know there is no authoritative list of how many services per week are required for a believer to be obediently “not forsaking.” If anything, when comparing the number of services at the local church in our modern era it seems that the apostolic church met much more often. Perhaps, if there is some kind of indication in the New Testament, we would turn to Paul’s words to the Corinthian church instructing them to gather funds at the first of the week to indicate the early church met on the first day of the week. Eventually one concludes, after speculating like this, that the speculative nature of the endeavor means that there is no final solution – this is a matter that God did not choose to specifically outline in His Word.

In light of that reality I’m left wondering if we are commanded to “not forsake” and yet aren’t told what define In light of that reality I’m left wondering if we are commanded to “not forsake” and yet aren’t told what defines “forsaking” then how is a believer to know if he is being obedient or not?
I have a friend who answers the questions along these lines: the individual believer should never miss gathering with his or her local body for at least one of the Lord’s Day corporate worship services unless prevented from doing so by illness, military, or missionary service. We’ve discussed the issue and I’ll tell you that he has (to the best of my knowledge) obeyed his conscience on this consistently. When questioned he said that he would schedule vacations, conferences, trips, etc around being able to meet with his local body on the Lord’s Day. I’m assuming he’s basing this on the fact that the Apostles met on the Lord’s Day and they apparently didn’t have Sunday Morning, Sunday Evening, and Wednesday (or Mid-Week, if you prefer) services. Thus the closest approximation of apostolic pattern is to meet with one’s local body on the Lord’s Day.

I have some problems with that answer. One, I’m of the opinion that it is as dangerous to set a standard the Lord didn’t command as it is to pretend as if He didn’t when He did; legalism and liberalism being two sides of the same sinful coin. I’m not calling my friend a legalist but rather pointing to the disconnect between personal practice and authoritative standard. I wonder if we can enforce that practice on the body as a whole since it is not clearly taught in the scriptures. I must also note that I’m not sure whether or not my friend believes this to be the standard that the Bible teaches for all believers. However, I’m looking for a way for all believers to define whether or not they are faithfully “not forsak[ing].” Thus a personal standard like that one is perfectly reasonable as an act of submission to a Biblically informed conscience but not as an absolute for all believers.

What other alternatives do we have? The one I’ve arrived at is this: the definition of what is considered regular attendance should be determined by the local church and established in the church covenant as a matter which all members agree to abide by. Here’s my reasoning: This is a matter that we don’t have clear Biblical instruction on. The local body is the group to which the Bible entrusts the accountability of the local believer. Furthermore, considering there is no authoritative Christian body above the local church (remember this is a Baptist blogger writing), the local body would step in to a place of authority in matters like this one which scripture doesn’t spell out. You and I know the church covenant is the document by which the members agree to mutually live as Christians in their community’s context, outlining what Christian living looks like as best they understand. Thus it seems appropriate to my mind that the local body prayerfully reach a consensus on what they understand the appropriate level of attendance to be, place that in the church covenant, and then hold each other accountable to that standard.

The problem is that we live in a day where churches seem more focused on tearing down standards than establishing the same. I’ll grant that what I’m proposing puts a vitally important issue in the hands of churches which might not care enough about their people to help them be obedient. I would counter that this surely couldn’t be any worse than what we see today – a continent which appears to be full of marginal Protestants who have divorced church attendance from the practice of their faith (despite what scripture teaches.) It also gives room for the faithful Christian to change a situation where a church might seem stringent on this issue. That believer could present his or her case to the body and hopefully change a bad situation or, if the believer is in the wrong, be corrected by the body. In the worst case scenario a faithful believer withdraws their membership and joins another church – a painful move but one that is sometimes necessary.

So there you have it. We should start teaching our people (or being taught) that Church Membership is vitally important, regular attendance is as well, and the body determines what is or is not regular attendance. That way even if they leave the particular church that we are a part of they will, if they follow the rest of the covenant “as soon as possible unite with some other church where [they] can carry out the spirit of [our original] covenant and the principles of God’s Word” and thus look to that body to help them be faithfully attending members of that church.

I’m willing to concede that I could be entirely missing the right solution here so I’m curious – what do you think? It’s clear that we must regularly attend a church to be faithful Christians (i.e. obedient to God’s Word). However, the Bible gives no definitive standard as to what regular attendance looks like. Thus, what do we do? I’d love to hear your thoughts.