Is Church Attendance Really That Important

Posted by Rev. Mark Slay

Back in the mid 1980's the Lord began to speak to me about America. During this time Christianity was in an upswing here in America. We had a good Christian president, Christian television was growing and America appeared to be swinging in the favor of God. But, right at that very time, the Lord began to speak to me that things would go the other direction.

If you've listened to me for any amount of time you know that I've always said that regular church attendance is very important, and there is no substitute for it. Common thinking today is, "Well, we have TV preachers, so why go to church?" People who embrace this thinking are just proving how little they really know about the Bible. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 10 and see what the Bible has to say about this subject.

Hebrews 10:25 - 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Notice He says do it MORE as His return draws near — not less. The trend in this nation, is to do it less. They think they'll just sit at home and drink their orange juice and attend the "internet campus" by watching online or on TV. Well, if I'm here and you're in your living room drinking orange juice, how are we assembling ourselves together?

Hebrews the 6th chapter tells us some of the basic, primary functions of the church. It says, 1"Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment."

Notice this verse lists laying on of hands as a foundational, fundamental, function of the church. If I'm here and you're on your Internet campus, how could you possibly fulfill this verse? I'm not against preachers being on the internet. I'm on the internet. But it cannot be a substitute for assembling ourselves together.

I came across a survey recently that shows that Americans are actually assembling together less. A lot of this probably stems from the preachers that are pushing the Internet campus business. It's planting the idea that this is a great substitute. It's not a substitute; it's an addition, a supplement.

God is not going to accept your excuse. If He told you to be at church, He doesn't care what you think about it. What will you say to Him on that day?