I am burdened by many Christians who are no longer active in Church. I am sure some of them have reasons or "excuses" for why they no longer attend. Some people have been offended by ungodly people in the church. Some are no longer able to attend due to physical reasons. But most of the people I know who have stopped coming to church simply do not believe it is important. They have time for what they consider important and the church is not on their list. This saddens me. I cannot understand how a Christian can read his Bible and miss the importance Christ places on the local church.
I have been reading the book, Disciplines of a Godly Man," by R. Kent Hughes. He addresses this phenomenona of de-churched Christians. His words struck a chord in my heart. Read an excerpt of what he has to say. I think he hits the proverbial nail on the head! I would also ask for your prayers as I prepare a series of messages on the doctrine of the Church. I will preach the series sometime next year.
"Church attendance is infected with a malaise of conditional loyalty which has produced an army of ecclesiastical hitchhikers. The hitchhiker's thumb says, 'You buy the car, pay for repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with gas — and I'll ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own! And I'll probably sue.' So it is with the credo of so many of today's church attenders: 'You go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills — and I'll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I'll criticize and complain and probably bail out — my thumb is always out for a better ride.'
"This putative loyalty is fueled by a consumer ethos — a 'McChristian' mentality — which picks and chooses here and there to fill one's ecclesiastical shopping list. There are hitchhikers who attend one church for the preaching, send their children to a second church for its dynamic youth program, and go to a third church's small group. Church hitchhikers have a telling vocabulary: 'I go to' or 'I attend,' but never 'I belong to' or 'I am a member.'" Citation: R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 159-160.
"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)
