Works of Necessity

 [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.]   

 Monday on the blog we shared two main categories of reasons why it might be permissible to miss gathering with God’s people, namely, works of necessity and works of mercy.

Let’s start with works of necessity. In his commentary on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, 18th century preacher James Fisher defined a work of necessity as “Such as could not be foreseen, nor provided against the day before, nor delayed till the day after the Sabbath.” [1] In other words, a work of necessity is something that must be done but cannot be rescheduled to another day. But what can be considered necessary? The 17th century theologian Francis Turretin says a work of necessity brings “some great advantage . . . to us or our neighbor if they are done or some great disadvantage and loss if they are omitted.”[2] It may be necessary to work an occasional shift on Sundays because your job requires it. Failure to do so will put your career in jeopardy, making it difficult or impossible to provide for your family.

It may be necessary to stay home if you’re sick since you’ll bring greater harm to yourself if you do not rest and recover. Or perhaps your vehicle broke down, you’re caring for a sick child, you’re snowed in, you’re quarantining because of exposure to a contagious virus, or you’re traveling on a much-needed vacation. All of these and more could reasonably be considered works of necessity. But probably not a sports event, a drizzly morning, a day to binge watch your favorite show, or because you just feel like staying home.  

[1] Fisher, Shorter Catechism Explained.

[2] Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, ed. James T. Dennison Jr., trans. George M. Griger, vol. 2 (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1997), 98.