I mulled over this post for a week or two thinking there was still time to polish it, but alas the summer already struck its first blow to our church community gathering. It may seem weird to make a case for going to church year-round. The fact remains, summer church attendance is lower than the rest of the year — a lot lower. Last evening at Salem Pres our attendance was half what it has been for 2014. It was a sudden drop too. My guess is the reason is not because people weigh the facts and make a willful rejection of the gathered community. I think we just need a pithy argument to have in the back of our minds when we are tempted to skip church for a beach trip or because we are spent from a great summer weekend.
I want to start by setting aside a few uncomfortable thoughts. First, there is a fair argument against measuring church health by numbers. Second, I am a pastor so I might be motivated to measure my success by worship attendance and thus browbeat the congregation toward worship commitment. Conversely, it would be unhelpful to keep these from making some helpful suggestions. It is not helpful to wish for summer to be the same when it simply is not in most churches. So this is a case for what is healthy and helpful about making a conscience effort to attend church.
I understand the temptation. The logic goes, “if we leave the beach in time to make it back to church, we will really be cutting a day off our trip.” Or perhaps you think as I have thought, “I have not had any down time after this packed week/weekend.” I offer three counters to this logic. First, is for God. He made the church his bride. We show our love to him by assembling each week and glorifying with him, engaging with him as more than individuals, but as his family, his beloved collective.
Second, it is a good thing to come and hear preaching and take the Lord’s Supper and hear each other singing. Yes an extra day at the beach is nice and it seems wasteful to not take full advantage of such an opportunity. But the assurance that God is with us and among us is a far greater treasure, though more difficult to embrace and appreciate. This leads me to my third reason, it is important for others to see you at church. You may feel like things are going well, but they are not for your brothers and sisters. The lonely, the jobless, the broken, they need you to sit among them in church and confess your sins with them. They need to hear you singing and be encouraged that God is real and with us.
The author of Hebrews, more than a few times, begs his congregation to not neglect the fellowship. Its not because he wants good numbers or he thinks are bad people if they skip worship. Its because “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV). For God, and for your brothers and sisters, plan to be back from the beach by Sunday. Push aside the hectic weekend not by lounging at home, but by relaxing in the respite of liturgy, prayer, silence, music, preaching, and the supper. Cut the road trip short, rush in the church doors late, though you smell of sweat, saltwater, and sunscreen. Plan your summer around gathering for worship, not because its the good Christian thing to do, but because it is hard to be a human being. You, and your brothers and sisters need you to. I need you to gather with me to follow the founder and perfecter of our faith.
austin pfeiffer 