I’ve been struggling, even within my own church, to encourage Christians that Sunday mornings are not just important, they’re vital. I don’t know why, but it seems like evangelicals (at least out here in the West) take church attendance lightly. In Colorado, Yahweh wars with the gods of nature for the attention of the hearts of sinners and saints. Skiing in the winter…hiking/camping in the summer. There’s always a reason to “skip church.” But worship is where we receive the REAL spiritual nourishment of the sacraments. Worship is where we receive the genuine encouragement from being in fellowship with God’s people. Worship is where we receive the faithful preaching of the Word. Worship is where we are SUMMONED BY GOD to be on Sunday mornings (or Saturday if you’re a seventh-dayer). We don’t question the need for physical nourishment. Unless we’re fasting or just have out-of-the-ordinary eating habits, we regularly nourish our bodies 3 times a day with food. God forbid that we Americans forget to eat! So what about our spiritual nourishment? If duty is not enough to get us there, maybe our skin-and-bones starving soul will eventually cry out for some self-care.
4 Comments on “skipping worship = soul-emaciation”
Excellent post. I’d like to quote it over on my blog sometime. I’ve thought this before but you express it in words so succinctly and convincingly. Thanks. Looking forward to more. God bless! Stanley
Who said they aren’t worshiping? 😉 (see Harold Best’s book “Unceasing Worship”)
I’ve read Best. Great book. Yes, worship is a way of life. But corporate worship–tied to a particular local assembly and a particular time and place–cannot be duplicated elsewhere. The soul-nourishing just doesn’t match in one-for-one correspondence, because there are a few things that God has given the church which are unique to the corporate worship setting and are not (properly) engaged in anywhere else. I’m definitely articulating a particular theological tradition/persuasion (inherent in the things I’m presupposing) which you may not share, and which may be the source of the rub. Dunno. Thanks for the the thoughts!
your message is vital for the world today. everyone is too busy to give God the one day He commands us to give to Him. Honoring the Sabbath is not a request, it is a command. Yes, being a part of corporate worship is where we are fed. I, for one, know that is one meal i can’t afford to miss. Thanks for your ministry. God bless you.