Why do we meet?
March 11, 2001
Dear Friends:
Did you every wonder why God wanted us to get together every week? What is the real purpose behind it all?
For those who are perhaps more legally minded, the answer that pops up is “because we are commanded to do it.” This is true enough. The writer to the Hebrews tells us “…let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.” However, even a cursory study of the Bible tells us that there is a deeper, more spiritual application to commandments.
For those who find the cerebral aspects of the Bible high on their list, perhaps the answer is to study our Bible. The verse that might use to support this is “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (Prov. 27:17) Yet, while the reading and studying of the Bible is inarguably important, the weekly meeting of God’s elect is not solely an intellectual exercise.
For those who may be swayed by the more emotional or social aspects of the Truth, how about being uplifted and exhorted in the common faith? How about sharing in the fellowship of like-minded believers? No doubt this is a vital part of the purpose of an ecclesia. We being part of the body of Christ need to associate with those other members. Still, it does not ring true that for two thousand years people have been gathering together for the primary purpose of uplifting one another.
How about to remember Christ and his sacrifice? In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul makes the following comment: “For first of all, when ye come together in the church…When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.” As he is rebuking them for the way they are conducting the Lord’s supper, he implies to us that indeed they were getting together for that purpose, but not fulfilling it. So, we come a lot closer here to a real answer. Yet, I will suggest that we still do not have the best possible answer to our question. It is extremely close to being the reason we get together, but not THE reason we get together.
So what is THE reason we get together? I would suggest that it can be summarized in one simple word – worship. There are two reasons I would suggest this is the best answer. First, most of the previous answers, at least in part, focus on us and what we get out of it. Although God in His infinite wisdom has created all of this with the intent to give us all we need to be successful in our service to Him, it is still about Him and not us. Anything that rings true in Scripture declares God’s glory and not our own. It must put God squarely in the center of things. The reason that the remembrance of Christ is so close to being right is that it puts God’s son at the center of things.
The second reason we feel that worship is the best answer is that is encompasses all of the previous answers plus others. We failed to mention other aspects of worship which are included in our services such as hymns, prayer, preaching, etc.. All of these are vital to a healthy spiritual life.
The thought is this. Is your focus skewed away from true and fervent worship of the our heavenly Father by focussing too much on one aspect of worship rather than the whole? Do we find our activities praise God in an appropriate, balanced manner? If we realize worship is why we are there, can we do a better job at it?
Think about it and have a great week!
