Have an Excuse for Missing Church?
The following is by Dr. Lonnie Wascom, the Director of Ministry and Missions for our Baptist association.
I came across this quote: “An empty tomb proves Christianity; an empty church denies it.” For the life of me I have never been able to wrap my brain around the idea that one can call himself or herself a follower of Christ and excuse consistent absence from the gatherings of the various expressions of the Body of Christ known as local churches. Am I missing something here? I read the following: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking the assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25, NASB). The context: The “once for all” sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear friends, if I have this wrong someone PLEASE correct me, but if the substitutionary death of our Savior on the cross of Calvary is not enough to motivate us to gather together then I suspect anything you and I can do to encourage believers is nothing more than “sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.”
I am grateful to God for our partnership in the Gospel. “Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).
