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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.] 

Let’s go back to the classic text on church attendance, Hebrews 10:23-25. The Spirit says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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.”

Notice how faithful church attendance helps you hold onto hope. The passage begins with a command to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,” and one of the ways we do that is by “not neglecting to meet together.” One of the fruits of faithfully gathering with God’s people is a greater grip on the hope of the Gospel. In his commentary on Hebrews, John Owen writes:

“Whatever reserves men may have in their minds, that they would still continue to believe in Christ though they attended not unto his discipline in these assemblies, he regards it not; because therein men do openly prefer their own temporal safety before his glory.” (5)

You may say to yourself “I don’t need to attend church to keep hoping,” but you’d be wrong. If your hope is leaking, perhaps it’s because your grip on God’s people is loosening. Or you may think you’re holding onto hope just fine, thank you very much. But do not be deceived, God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). If you sow a loose grip on God’s people you will reap a loose grip on Gospel hope. 

If you want a strong, hope-filled relationship with the Lord, you’ll cultivate a strong habit of faithful attendance to the gatherings in your local church. Kent Hughes puts it this way, “On the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship.”(6)

5. John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. W. H. Goold, vol. 23, The Works of John Owen (Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter, 1854), 521–22.

6. R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man, Updated Edition (Wheaton: Crossway, 2019), 218–19.