Why Do We Gather?

by Lance Finley, CGGC Executive Director

Why does your local congregation gather? Over the past two years there has been a lot of discussion around the importance of Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 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.” It’s pretty clear that we need to gather and that it’s vital to our discipleship to Jesus. We need each other if we’re going to follow Jesus and live out the many “one another” commands that are found through out the New Testament.

With that being said, it’s still a good question to ask: Why does your local congregation gather? Is it worship? Is it fellowship? Is it discipleship? Is it teaching? Is it evangelism? It’s probably safe to assume that a lot of us might answer, “It’s all of those things and more.” Perhaps others would point to love one another, encourage one another, bear one another’s burdens, or consider one another better than yourselves.

Through the disruption of the past two years, all of us have had to reimagine our gatherings: how we meet, where we meet, and what special precautions or considerations do we consider as we gather together? Over the past several decades we’ve witnessed shifts in our culture that have also impacted our approach to gathering. There was an era when you could hold outreach services or evangelistic services with some confidence that there would be a good number of unreached folks who would give a hearing to the proclamation of the Good News. There was a time when blue laws helped insure that most people would be available to attend Sunday morning worship without the conflicts of work or other responsibilities or activities.

One of the unintended consequences of the church growth movement was the tendency to make the Sunday morning experience the all-encompassing church event: worship, evangelism, discipleship along with fellowship and teaching. Get it all in an hour on Sunday morning.

Often there is a great emphasis placed upon church attendance and yet I wonder if that results in some surprising unintended consequences. I grew up in a world where I understood it was important to be at church. Even today, after two long years of struggling through a global pandemic, one of the messages I hear the most in church circles is “get people back in church”. I understand the concern, we can’t live the Christian live alone and we really do need each other. At the same time, if we’re to take the Great Commission to heart, it’s more than just showing up at the gathering once a week. We know Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I played high school football. As I understood it, one of the chief goals of playing football was to win football games. Imagine if the coach began to count how many players showed up for the Monday morning team meeting in order to prepare for Friday night’s game. “We had forty-five players show up for Monday’s meeting which was five more than last week,” or “We had perfect attendance at practice on Wednesday night,” or “We have more players coming out for film night than at any other time in our history.” Imagine a coach celebrating those metrics and yet never placing a team on the field for Friday night’s game. As good as the practices may have been or as much as attendance might have grown over the year, the team still wasn’t accomplishing the mission of winning football games. It doesn’t matter that the team had perfect attendance for practice all week if they’re not putting a team on the field for the game on Friday night!

When Jesus gave the Great Commission, he was giving us pretty clear instructions on what counts for a “win” in his book. Is your congregation making disciples? Are lost people being sought and found? Are people moving from darkness to light? Are folks repenting and believing, growing in their ability to both hear from the Lord and respond in obedience to Him? Are you witnessing the reality of God’s kingdom coming in your community through the reality of the transformation of peoples’ lives?

I think Hebrews 10:24-25 offers a lot about why we gather and what should be accomplished by our gatherings. Are brothers and sisters being spurred on to love and good deeds in a way that touches the lives of folks in your community? Are they being encouraged to keep on pursuing the mission of God at all costs?

We can gathering faithfully and still miss the mission! If our gatherings are not resulting in disciples of Jesus being made, then we’re like a football team that practices faithfully but never actually plays the game on Friday night.

If our gatherings aren’t resulting in the deployment of ambassadors of the kingdom of God who are making disciples of Jesus, then it’s time to make some changes so that we get back on mission. If our gatherings aren’t sending out disciples of Jesus who are able to love their neighbors or do good work to the Glory of God, then it doesn’t matter how faithful we are in our gathering, we’ve still missed the mark of the mission He gave us.

Don’t give up gathering! We need each other to stay on mission. Some of us need to take an honest evaluation about what the gathering is really accomplishing. What would it take for your congregation to accomplish the mission of making disciples of Jesus? What will you have to do practically to seek and save the lost in your context? How do you continue to encourage one another an spur one another on in the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ?