The question I have asked myself many times and even here in the last couple of months is this, “If I miss a church service for whatever reason, am I forsaking church?”
As stated in the previous blog, I believe church attendance is important! I believe it should be a top weekly priority for the Christian! I believe that going to church is needed for a healthy Christian life!
But the question is there, what if I have to miss a service because of this or that? What if I have to work on a Sunday morning? What if my kid is sick and I can’t make it? Am I disobeying Hebrews 10:25? The Christian’s go-to verse for church attendance!
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:25 KJV
I’ve heard it preached many times throughout my life that if you miss church for anything you are forsaking church! I agree that you shouldn’t miss church, I agree that you shouldn’t make it a habit of missing church! But to say if you miss church, you’re forsaking church or forsaking the assembling together is something I do not agree with!
Here’s why…
The word ‘forsake’ means to renounce or turn away from entirely! Let that definition sink in for a minute!
Now let’s look at a word in that definition above, ‘renounce’. This word means to refuse to follow, obey, or recognize any further.
I’ve asked myself before, even last week, when I have to work, am I forsaking church? Am I renouncing church? Am I turning away from church? The answer is no.
Now I can point to people I’ve known my whole life who at one point were faithful church members but at some point they forsook church. They renounced church. They have turned away completely from church.
Christian, do everything you can to attend church, it’s important! But just know that for you to forsake church it will take more than just missing a service here and there. You will have to renounce church, you will have to turn away from church, you will have to live a life that church and God is totally absent from to forsake church.
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You could say that the reason “forsaking the assembling” seems such a grave offense to the writer is that leaving the assembly (for good) is reflective of a heart that leaves God.
Also, I believe you are correct in your assessment. To forsake means to walk away. Much like a parent who abandons their children or a wayward teens rejects their parent’s rule (that’s probably a better example).
Even in this idea of forsaking the assembly, I think it’s mot so much a preaching point to others than it is an encouragement to keep an eye on yourself. We are not policemen of other’s righteousness (and thank God for that).
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