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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.]  

Faithful church attendance gives us encouragement to persevere until the end. Hebrews 11:25 states, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” What “day” is the author of Hebrews referring to? The capitalization in many English translations should give us a hint. This is the Day, the day when Christ returns and makes all things new. 

The closer we get to that Day, the more we need encouragement from one another to persevere. A few days before His crucifixion, Jesus gathered with His disciples on the Mount of Olives and taught them about the end of the age. He says in Matthew 24:12, “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” Isn’t that interesting? The nearer we get to that Day, the more lawlessness will increase and love will decrease. The closer we get to the return of Christ, the harder it becomes to love. 

I’m not one of those preachers who theorizes much about the return of Christ. I know He’s coming again, but I don’t have a chart to show you when. But I know this: Matthew 24:12 feels a lot like the world we live in today. Lawlessness appears to be on the rise. And love? We talk and sing a lot about it, but it seems to me that the love of many has grown cold.

And this isn’t just a problem “out there” in the world. It’s a problem in the church. We are just as tempted to put our love on ice as the world is. If you don’t believe me, spend ten minutes on “evangelical” Twitter. Who am I kidding? Two or three minutes will probably be enough. Has our love grown cold? 

In the next verse Jesus says something startling. Let’s look at both verses together to get the full sense: “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Christian, you are called to endure, to persevere until the end. And that includes persevering in love. And God has chosen His people as the means to help you continue. One pastor put it this way: 

We desperately need the church for love, for maturity and preparedness, for spiritual care. It is arrogant, rebellious, self-reliant, God-indicting pride to conclude that the church is an optional extra to the Christian life. We need everything God designs for us. Everything. To reject what God designs for His glory and our good is spiritual suicide. To reject the church is to take your own spiritual life. (1)

1.  Thabiti Anyabwile in Kevin DeYoung, ed., Don’t Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 199.