What is your mentality as you show up to the church gathering on another Sunday? Have you ever thought about it? We are creatures of habit, and one healthy habit that many Christians have adopted is being with the body of Christ on Sunday (although, recent statistics would argue that this is not a habit since the churchgoer attends church only 1.6 times a month). And here’s the thing about a habit: we don’t put much thought into it; we just do it, or else we would not call it a habit! This means that the habit of church attendance can be a dangerous thing. We attend a church service because it is what we do. It is our habit.

How about for you? Is church attendance delegated to the realm of your Sunday morning habit? Something that you have always done or tried to do when you are able? To be sure, more needs to be said about the priority of being part of the church gathering on Sunday. Maybe I will address that in my next article, but for now, I want to get your attention on moving your church attendance past being a response of habit to an opportunity for you to give of yourself and invest in others.

Colin Marshall in an article titled The Ministry of the Pew, made the following observation: “Church is where we seek spiritual food and encouragement in order to become more godly, but church is also where we go in order to feed other people and encourage them. In God’s mercy, we become more Christ-like in the process, as like him we deny ourselves for the sake of others. But our purpose in gathering with God’s people is to strengthen them and build the body of Christ. We look for opportunities to assist the growth of the church in practical ways.” Notice how Marshall speaks of our purpose being with the body: to strengthen and build. How? Through encouragement and feeding others the Word of God.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the importance in speaking and encouraging one another when the congregation gathers. He says in Hebrews 3:13, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,” and declares later in 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Both those passages point to the importance of the one-another encouragement in the body of Christ.

Of course, if we are going to fulfill the call of those passages, we will soon realize that our Sunday morning gathering is not enough. We need to gather with each other in other ways as well. But that does not mean that our Sunday morning gatherings should be anything less in terms of encouragement and exhortation from one another! Think about it: how often have you come to church on Sunday with the intention of encouraging others in the Word of God? Have you come to feed others or only to be fed? 

If we are going to make the most of our Sunday morning gatherings, then we will move past simply being consumers of the Word of God to being fellow contributors of the Word to others. I’m not going to lie. This is not just going to naturally happen. It is going to take intentionality. This is why Hebrews 10:24 tells us to “consider.” Considering takes intentionality - purpose and planning. Which means that if we are going to be making the most of our Sunday gatherings for the glory of God, then we are going to come into church with intention and preparation to encourage other believers in the Word of God. Then, over time, as we approach each Sunday with intentionality, a new habit forms. We not only come to church out of habit; we come to church to encourage others in the Word out of habit.

Your Servant in the Lord,