Is Church attendance necessary? In the Covid-19 environment that we find ourselves in, more people than usual are finding it easier to neglect Church attendance.
More Churches than ever before are livestreaming and recording their services. This ability to watch and listen to Church services, combined with the fear that Covid-19 has caused, has provided an excuse for many to forsake assembling together.
A Clear Answer
The Bible gives us a clear answer about Church attendance, with or without the coronavirus.
(Hebrews 10:25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but extorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. NKJV
No doubt there are some people who have not attended Church since this current pandemic began due to a fear of catching Corona. In the end one has to ask themselves, does my fear negate the above scripture? If you didn’t allow a fear of the flu or getting in a car wreck prevent you from going to Church, what makes this virus so different? According to the experts the current odds of dying from Covid-19 is (1-in-1000). Your odds of dying in a car crash, (1-in-103).
Saying your a Christian and yet not going to Church (assembling together) is not God’s will. In (Hebrews 10:25), the Bible clearly tells us not to forsake gathering together. From this same verse we find that some people in the Bible were already wrongly abandoning the idea of Church attendance being necessary. These people didn’t even have being afraid of Covid-19 as an excuse, nor could they listen or watch a preacher at home.
Church Attendance Isn’t A Burden, It’s A Privilege!
(Psalm 122:1) I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
When a person is truly seeking after more from God, Church attendance will not cause a, “Do I have to go to Church?” attitude. It will be more like an, “I get to go to Church!” attitude. Many people live in countries where great persecution of Christians take place. They would love the chance to be able to get together with others, carry the Bible openly, and worship God without having to worry about being found out and punished in some way.
For those of us who have an opportunity to freely attend Church and worship, we are blessed. Our current pandemic has even challenged that right in some parts of the United States. The idea that Church attendance is a burden instead of a blessing should be foreign to our minds.
Church Attendance Is God’s Idea
(Ephesians 4:11-12) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
If Church attendance is not important, then why does Jesus give us evangelists, pastors, and teachers? If everyone stayed at home there would be no one to preach and teach to. Aside from the current pandemic, there are occasions due to age and sickness that Church attendance will not be possible for some who are not physically able to attend. For these times, technology has come a long way in allowing us to listen to preaching online. For the rest of the able-bodied saints of God, he has promised us where two or three gather in his name he will be their. (Mathew 18:20)
Church Attendance Is A Necessary Privilege
(Deuteronomy 31:12) Assemble the people – men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns – so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.
From the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Bible shows us it has always been part of God’s plan for his people to gather together. We need to go to Church so we can listen, learn, pray, and worship Him together. Church attendance is a necessary privilege.
