To Serve With Love
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Why do we meet together each week for worship and instruction? Couldn’t we, with a lot less bother, worship at home, read the Bible and listen to a sermon on the radio?
In the first century, people gathered weekly to hear the Scriptures — but today we have our own copies of the Bible to read. Then why not stay at home to read the Bible on our own? It certainly would be easier — cheaper, too. Through modern technology, everyone in the world could listen to the best preachers in the world, every week! Or we could have a menu of options, and listen only to the sermons that apply to us, or only to subjects we like. Wouldn’t it be lovely?
Well, not really. I believe that stay-at-home Christians are missing out on many important aspects of Christianity. I hope to address these in this article, both to encourage faithful attendees to get more out of our meetings, and to encourage others to return to weekly attendance. To understand why we gather each week, it is helpful to ask, Why did God create the church? What purposes does it have? By learning the functions of the church, we can then see how our weekly meetings serve various purposes in God’s desire for his children.
You see, God’s commands are not arbitrary things just to see if we will jump when he says jump. No, his commands are given for our own good. Of course, when we are young Christians, we may not understand why he commands certain things, and we need to obey even before we know all the reasons why. We simply trust God, that he knows best, and we do what he says. So, a young Christian may attend church simply because that’s what Christians are expected to do. A young Christian may attend simply because Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together.”
So far, so good. But as we mature in the faith, we should come to a deeper understanding of why God tells his people to meet together.
Many commands
Let’s begin exploring this subject by noting that Hebrews is not the only book that commands Christians to assemble with one another. “Love one another,” Jesus tells his disciples (John 13:34). When Jesus says “one another,” he is not referring to our duty to love all human beings. Rather, he is referring specifically to the need for disciples to love other disciples — it must be a mutual love. And this love is an identifying characteristic of Jesus’ disciples (v. 35).
Mutual love does not express itself in accidental meetings at the grocery store and sporting events. Jesus’ command presupposes that his disciples are meeting with one another on a regular basis. Christians should have regular fellowship with other Christians. “Do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers,” Paul wrote (Galatians 6:10). To obey this command, it is essential that we know who the family of believers is. We need to see them, and we need to see their needs.
“Serve one another,” Paul wrote to the church in Galatia (Galatians 5:13). Although we should serve unbelievers in certain ways, Paul is not using this verse to tell us that. In this verse, he is not commanding us to serve the world, and he is not commanding the world to serve us. Rather, he is commandingmutual service among those who follow Jesus Christ. “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Paul is talking to people who want to obey Jesus Christ, telling them about a responsibility they have toward other believers. But how can we carry each other’s burdens unless we know what those burdens are — and how can we know unless we meet each other regularly?
“If we walk in the light…we have fellowship with one another,” John wrote (1 John 1:7). John is talking about those who walk in the light. He is talking about spiritual fellowship, not casual acquaintances with unbelievers. If we walk in the light, we seek out other believers with whom to have fellowship. Similarly, Paul wrote, “Accept one another” (Romans 15:7). “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other” (Ephesians 4:32). Christians have special responsibilities toward one another.
Throughout the New Testament, the early Christians met with one another to worship together, to learn together, to share their lives with one another (for example, Acts 2:41-47). Everywhere Paul went, he raised up churches, rather than leaving scattered believers. They were eager to share their faith and zeal with one another. This is the biblical pattern.
But some people today complain that they don’t get anything out of the sermons. That may be true, but it’s really not an excuse to stop attending the meetings. Such people need to change their perspective from “get” to “give.” We attend worship services not just to get, but also to give — to give worship to God with our whole heart and to give service to other members of the congregation.
How can we serve others at church services? By teaching children, helping clean the building, singing hymns and special music, arranging chairs, greeting people, etc. We provide an atmosphere in which others can get something out of the sermons. We fellowship, and find out needs to pray about and things to do to help others during the week. If you aren’t getting anything out of the sermons, then at least attend in order to give to others.
Paul wrote, “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). “Spur one another on toward love and good deeds,” (Hebrews 10:24). This is the specific reason given in the context of the Hebrews 10:25 command for regular assemblies. We are to encourage others, to be a source of positive words, whatsoever things are true and lovely and of good report.
Consider Jesus as an example. He regularly attended synagogue and regularly heard readings of Scripture that didn’t add anything to his understanding, but he went anyway, to worship. Maybe it was boring to an educated man like Paul, but he didn’t let that stop him, either.
Click here to read about “Duty and Desire” see Success: Old & New
