Why Your Attendance is Important It’s Sunday morning. You’ve worked all week and only had one day to play. You hit the snooze button and go back to sleep…again…and again. When you finally do get out of bed, it’s too late to get to church on time, so God will forgive you this once. But what about next week? It’s Wednesday night. You’re tired from work, and the kids have soccer practice. You rush home; grab the kids, and a few burgers from McDonald’s on the way to the field. You’ve already prayed today and read your Bible, so it won’t make a big difference if you don’t go to the Bible study tonight. It’s Thursday evening. You really want to do anything else that to go to the church and help pack lunches for underprivileged children in your community; their parents should be taking care of this anyway, right? Besides, your favorite show comes on tonight. You’re sure they’ll have enough people to do what they need to do anyway. You’re just one person. It’s Sunday morning. We’ve all been there a time or two. Do we go to church or go somewhere else? I’ve been on both sides of this as a layperson and as a pastor. As a church member, we lived 45 minutes away. I could find any excuse not to attend; weather, gas prices, travel time, etc. As a pastor, I’ve heard a great many excuses. My favorite is “Well, I only have two days off a week…” which is unlike the other 90% of 9-5 employees who only get two days off a week! If you want to discourage your pastor, be a no show at church. But why is it such a big deal? Everyone misses church every now and then, right? Why do you need to be there? Let’s take a look at why your attendance is important and why it’s discouraging to your pastor. How many of you remember “Show and Tell” at school? I remember trying to figure out what I could bring that would be cooler than everyone else’s item. While that was in Kindergarten, we still show and tell today. Your absence is discouraging to your pastor because it shows him or her a lack of commitment and concern. It shows that we are too busy doing other things and those things we tend to put first, even if it means putting them ahead of God. It also shows that we are not concerned about the work of the Church. I use the capital there to emphasize that it is not the work of a particular building, but the work of the Church as a whole. It tells your pastor that whatever you are doing is more important than church. When we decide to watch NASCAR or football or we stay home to watch television or whatever we are doing, it is a statement that we are making. We are telling the world that this is more important. You are telling people that you are willing to sacrifice the effectiveness of the ministry of the church and its mission to appease your own contentment. There is another aspect of this that is even more dangerous than the first two. A steady lack of attendance gives birth to complacency. If there is one thing in Satan’s arsenal that has destroyed more Christians, it is complacency. Is it the most powerful weapon in the arsenal? No, but it is the most effective. Think of it like this: an atomic bomb is much more powerful than a bullet, but how many more people have been killed by bullets than atomic bombs? When we become complacent, we tend to feel like we have “just enough Jesus” to get by. We loose our appetite for godly things, and we starve. More than just my ramblings, Scripture has a great deal to say about complacency. Deuteronomy 8:10-14, 17-20 says, 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God. We see here that complacency leads to pride, and then to destruction. Now before you stop reading because you think that this is just a “turn or burn” message or a “fire and brimstone” warning, let me clarify that I am not trying to scare anyone into becoming a better Christian, I’m just presenting what the Bible says. If we look at the New Testament, in Revelation 3:15-17 we read, “15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Again, the theme of pride is brought to our attention. The church that this is being written to feels that they are “good enough” so they aren’t trying too hard. But our lukewarmness is sickening to God, and he wants nothing to do with it. Now, let’s look back at the Old Testament to Malachi 1:6-14: 6 “A son honors his father and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ 7 “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty. 9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the LORD Almighty. 10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations. The Israelites had started to bring God blemished sacrifices and save the best for themselves, and they dishonored him. In the same way, when we keep the best of our time for ourselves and half-heartedly commit to worship, we dishonor God. He is saying here, “You wouldn’t act this way if your job was on the line. How much more important am I than your boss?” God is not pleased with us when we deliberately choose to give him our leftovers. We can also turn to the words of Jesus himself in Matthew 7:15-23, 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ When we choose to give our second best, it shows the fruit that we bear. More importantly it speaks to what kind of seed is planted inside us. Just as an apple seed cannot produce turnips; neither can a seed of God produce selfish desires. Jesus also tells us that it is not just a matter of what we do, but of what is in our hearts. In other words, we should not go to church because we have to, but we should go to church because it is our desire to worship God. So how do we address this problem? You cannot change the fruit of a tree by pruning the branches; you have to change the seed that is producing the fruit. First, we need to set our hearts right. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:19-24, 33: 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Our attention needs to shift from our own worldly desires. We need to move beyond ourselves, and our focus needs to be on God. We need to continually seek him and his desire for our life. My grandfather, Rev. Ken Reed, told me one time, “You’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing.” We have to make God the most important in our lives. More than our money, our friends, our family, our jobs, everything. Colossians 3:1-2 reads, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” When we became Christians, we died to the sinful nature, and were transformed into new creatures. Our focus should no longer be on the things of this life, which we died to, but on things above…home. I no longer live in the boundaries of the blessed region known as West Virginia, but every day my thoughts and my heart wanders back to my home. The advantage for West Virginians is that it truly is almost heaven, so we get a little more credit than those less fortunate of you who were raised somewhere else, but it is still not good enough. We need to have that same hunger and desire to be with our Father! We need to keep each other accountable. There is no such thing as a cowboy Christian who rides off alone into the sunset. That is a myth, but one our culture tries to produce. It is an issue of pride. We want to prove that we can do it all by ourselves, but we can’t, so we fail. We were created to be together! What did God say after he created Adam? “It is not good for him to be alone!” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. And Hebrews 10:19-25 tells us, 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. We are stronger when we grow together! We can pick each other up when we fall, and carry on the journey together. We all have access to God, because just as the veil in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies and the common area was torn, so the body of Jesus was broken for us all to bridge the gap between us and God. We need to be faithful because he was faithful, even when we did not deserve it. Also, I love the illustration of the spurs here. In order to spur a horse, where do you have to be? Riding it! Sometimes you are going to have to ride someone to get them where they need to be! God is more concerned about our holiness than our happiness! It is not a pleasant process, but we were called to make the right choices, even if they are the hard ones. Most importantly, we must encourage each other. Think of a sand castle facing destruction by the incoming tide. If we see the problem before it arrives and do nothing, we are as much at fault for the castle’s destruction as the waves are. But if we see the tide coming in and dig a trench around the castle and build walls around it to protect it, we have done what we can to make sure the castle does not fall. Sometimes, we will find the castle after is has been destroyed by the waves, and then we can help to rebuild it. The world is the waves and people are the castle. My Pap Reed also told me, “If you aren’t building someone up, then you’re tearing them down.” There is way too much negativity in the world today. The last thing someone needs to hear at church is, “I can’t believe he’s wearing that. He looks like a moron.” Too many people have been turned off to Christ because of Christians. Continue to listen to one another and bear one another’s burdens. Pray for one another, and be proactive. You may not be the most popular person, but that is not who we were called to be. Someone once said that if we are going to follow God we need to get used to being lonely. Your attendance is so important to the life of the church. It will be difficult, but what isn’t? It will be tiring, but there will be rest. It will be burdensome, but you don’t have to carry it alone. I am praying for you.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:21:45 +0000
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