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“Respect The Day”
Categories: WORSHIPThere seems to be a growing debate in regards to whether or not there should be an evening worship service, which apparently was instituted during World War Two for those who had to work Sunday mornings. Some feel we have become bound to a tradition and feel that those members who regularly miss morning worship, whether or not work related, are being catered to, and if they chose to miss morning worship for whatever reason, it is a choice they made for themselves and shouldn’t affect other members.However, some members bind the attendance of evening worship as forsaking the assembly. Yet, attending only in the evening appears excused and to the point that evening worship services have become, for the most part, mandatory. Consequently, the choice or necessity that morning worshippers occasionally miss evening worship seems the greater transgression. This is especially problematic for members who must drive a considerable distance to attend worship.
This issue has hit home with me, although it’s not the disapproval of my church family I am feeling. I attend both evening and morning worship regularly; I’m always there for Bible studies and know the importance of loving and encouraging my brothers and sisters. But on the rare occasion that I have missed evening worship, unless it was absolutely unavoidable, I have felt bad, like I have done something displeasing to God. Jesus talked about the error of imposed Jewish laws and traditions not specified by God. Is this a modern day version? I would greatly appreciate your input because I would rather not do anything that violates my conscience unnecessarily. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Checking My Attendance
Dear Checking My Attendance,
We really appreciate your attitude and desire to do what is right. This is an issue that thousands of, if not all, saints struggle with. When is it appropriate to miss services? To answer your question, we need to look at two verses: Rev 1:10 and Heb 10:25.
Having two services on Sunday is merely an expediency. Nowhere in the Scriptures are the saints required to meet twice on Sunday – however, there is a reason that most congregations have multiple services. The reason our group has a morning and an evening worship is because Sunday is called “the Lord’s day”. That term is found in Rev 1:10 and is almost universally agreed by commentators to refer to Sunday because that is the day that the Lord arose from the grave, and it is the day that God commanded His saints to commemorate Christ’s death (Acts 20:7). What is Sunday to a christian? It is a day given to the Lord. It doesn’t say “the Lord’s half-hour” or “the Lord’s morning” – it says “the Lord’s day“. There is a principle there. God intends for us to mentally set that day aside for spiritual things. Unlike the Jewish Sabbath, christians aren’t prohibited from working on Sundays or doing other things, but we still have a principle of devoting that day as a day for spiritual things. After all, the Old Testament Sabbath existed for the spiritual needs of men (Mk 2:27), and it isn’t like those spiritual needs have gone away just because we aren’t Jewish. For clarification, Sunday isn’t a new Sabbath, but we can take some principles from Old Testament examples (1 Cor 10:6). It isn’t wrong for a christian to work on Sunday, but it also isn’t right for a christian to disregard the Bible design of Sunday as the Lord’s day.
The other primary verse to consider is Heb 10:25. We are commanded to “not forsake the assembly”. The word ‘forsake’ means ‘to desert, abandon, or leave behind’. This verse is sometimes misused to say that if you miss even a single class or service, you are sinning – that isn’t the case. Forsaking something is more than just a single absence; it is an attitude of desertion. Heb 10:25 says that those who had forsaken the church assembly had made a custom out of it – it was their habit. When our priorities change and the church is no longer important to us and the Lord’s day is no longer a priority, then we have forsaken the assembly. To forsake the assembly requires a devaluation of worship in our lives and in our hearts. What we do consistently is a window into our hearts. We are known by the fruit we bear (Matt 7:16). If a brother begins to scale back his attendance, it will legitimately raise eyebrows on caring brethren because attendance decline is a consistent indication that someone is having spiritual problems. People have a zillion different reasons (sickness, travel, family emergencies, work, car trouble, etc.) for missing services… sometimes those excuses are sincere, and sometimes they are a cover up for dodging our responsibilities to the Lord. Not everyone that misses a service is spiritually weak, but spiritually weak people miss services. However, you mentioned that you rarely miss services, and it is not a consistent part of your behavior – therefore, those concerns wouldn’t apply to you as long as you can honestly say that your priorities are where they ought to be. Asking the question, “Did I have a legitimate reason to miss evening services?” is a healthy part of self-examination… something we should all do (Gal 6:4, 1 Cor 11:28).
