Depending on the kind of congregation you were a part of back in the day, missing a Sunday morning, Sunday night, or Wednesday night church meeting for anything other than death or near-death reasons might have caused someone to enquire as to whether you had forsaken the assembly. Things have indeed changed!
In many places the opposite is true today. Many brethren pick and choose which church service to attend according to whim, not duty. No matter what the environment, wise brethren lead with love and concern. In good churches brethren know each other and look after each other. They make sure that everyone is doing well in the Lord. This, of course, can only flourish where there is a spirit of freedom.
In these churches a Christian is free to get on with his spiritual life. By freewill he orders his business so as to put the Kingdom of Christ first in all things. This is maturity! This is the Christian who longs to share in the spiritual growth of the congregation. For him ‘going to church’ is as natural as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For him being with the brethren ‘is’ walking together in meaningful fellowship; if it wasn’t, he would make it so. Brothers and sisters like this do not walk away from the Lord. Wherever you may see yourself on the attendance scale, it is a fact that walking away from the Lord usually begins by neglecting regular church meetings. It is one thing to insist that you have everything under control, but quite another to ‘bat away’ the concern of good brethren. It is better that you can praise God for having brethren who are overly concerned about your absence, than to sit wondering if anyone cares. I was glad when they said to me,“
Let us go to the house of the LORD” (Psalm 122:1).
John Staiger
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