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[The following is excerpted from the book, Gather: Getting to the Heart of Going to Church, Copyright © 2021 by M. Hopson Boutot. Click here to download the entire book for free.]  

 

On Monday, I offered a definition for the sin of non-attendance. The sin of non-attendance is a believer’s willful and continual absence from regular corporate gatherings in a local church. Let’s unpack and explain this definition one line at a time.

A Continual Sin

What if I am one of those who miss because it’s sprinkling outside? Or because I’ve got tickets to watch my favorite team? Or because I’ve had a horrible week, and now I just want to lie in bed on a Sunday morning? Am I living in sin? Maybe, but not necessarily. Consider our definition again: the sin of non-attendance is a believer’s willful and continual absence from regular corporate gatherings in a local church. 

Since Hebrews 10:25 warns against forsaking the assembly, it seems to me that simply missing a service here and there (while inadvisable) would not necessarily qualify as the sin of non-attendance. To be clear, I personally believe you should limit your absences to works of necessity and mercy (something we’ll explain in further detail in chapter 6). For this reason, our family has made the habit of attending worship services even while we’re on vacation. Most of the time it’s not necessary to miss, so we don’t. But if your approach to church attendance is slightly less rigorous than mine, I would likely stop short of labeling it a sin. 

What we have in mind is not the occasional absence from the gathered church, but a continual absence. Now let’s be careful here, lest we sound as vague as Justice Stewart. Some may ask, how often can I occasionally miss without being guilty of a continual sin? Can I skip once a month? Twice a month? Three times?

These are the wrong questions. This is trying to find out where the line is, then getting as close to the line as you can without crossing it. Questions like these come from a heart that wants to do the bare minimum. Instead of asking “how often can I miss church and be okay?” a better question would be “when is missing church appropriate?” We’ll examine these questions in greater detail in chapter 6, but for now suffice it to say that continual absence is an issue of the heart. It’s a heart that prefers lesser things to the goodness of gathering with God’s people.

 A Willful Sin

When I was a boy, my little Southern Baptist church occasionally gave pins to its members with a year of perfect attendance. Honestly, that seems laughable today. Even as lead pastor, I miss worship services in my church several times a year. Since most of us miss the gathering occasionally, it’s wise to examine our hearts lest we succumb to unnecessary guilt. Here’s a question to ask yourself next time you miss church: do I want to be there? 

The sin of non-attendance is a believer’s willful and continual absence from regular corporate gatherings in a local church. The Christian who misses the gathering for the right reasons usually desires to be there. They want to attend, but for one reason or another they can’t. 

But before we conclude this section, let’s pay attention to a word of warning from 18th century Scottish preacher James Fisher. In his commentary on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, he discusses what activities Christians should do on the Lord’s Day. His advice can also be applied to what sorts of activities we allow to keep us from God’s people. He urges Christians to be sure these activities “be real, and not pretended; that we spend as little time about them as possible; and that we endeavour to attain a holy frame of spirit while about them.” In other words, check your heart. Don’t be on the lookout for opportunities to miss the gathering. You should desire to gather with God’s people. If you don’t, something is wrong.