An Encouragement To Stay Faithful During The Summer
Introduction: Frameworks and Commitments
There are few things more beautiful than a family in which a husband and wife stick together through hard times. It could be an illness, a deep sin, a lost job, or a string of many small disappointments that threaten to weaken their mutual commitment. But, amazingly, they stay and keep their vows through it all. What keeps a family bond strong through these things? The answer is simple: the right framework for what the family is informs their faithfulness to it. If they have a biblical framework of the family, the right model for what the family is supposed to be, then the commitment is part of what they signed up for in the first place. Similarly, it is beautiful for a pastor to watch Christians be faithful to their church family. All kinds of things threaten this commitment, or at least present the possibility of weakening it. One of those things is Summer and its attendant forms of busyness. So I wrote this piece to give you a new paradigm in which to see your relationship to your local church. I am persuaded that if you see this paradigm in Scripture, and adopt it as your own, you will be in a better position to remain faithful to your church during the Summer. Like a family stays 'sticky' in their commitments if they have a framework that demands it, a church member with the right framework will stay 'sticky' in relation to their church.
A Framework for the Church: A Devoted Family
In Acts 2:41, we read that those who received the gospel message after hearing Peter preach were baptized into the church at Jerusalem. What happens next is the normative pattern for the Christian life on the other side of baptism: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." This devotion to one another reflects Jesus' command that our mutual love would be the hallmark of our discipleship (John 13:34-35). It also is necessary for baptized Christians to be shown how to live out all that Jesus taught (Matthew 28:18-20). It is not surprising then to discover that the church in the New Testament operates like a close-knit family. Paul pulls on this thread in Galatians 6:10 by referring to the church as the "household of faith," the "household of God" in 1 Timothy 3:15, and of course the many references to Christians as fellow brothers and sisters. In one sense, there is the whole family of God, made up of believers. But the nuclear family is most represented by a specific congregation with which you gather, pray, are taught, and eat and drink the supper. So here is the paradigm, the framework I want you to see: your church is a family. In fact, it is more like a family than just about anything else. It is not a fundraiser, it is not a charity, and it is not an event. The reason I raise these three false frameworks is because they all serve as modern foils to the family metaphor we see in the Bible. So let me press into the implications of this glorious biblical paradigm by contrasting it with these unbiblical ones.
The Church Is A Family, Not A Fundraiser: So Be Faithful to Give
I have been to a couple of fundraisers, and I enjoyed them. Food, a musician, or a comedian is brought in to make the writing of the check or the emptying of the wallet a little less forced. I am not against fundraisers. If the cause is worthwhile then why shouldn't I enjoy myself while I donate? But I do think our ecclesiology has gone dreadfully astray if we see our church as a fundraiser. Why do I think this might be a problem? Well, there is a common habit in churches in which people give only in the services which they attend. So, if they dip out during the Summer the money dips out with them. This could be due to the amount of money spent on extravagant vacations. However I doubt this is the reason for most. I think there is a mindset problem that might be underneath this. If you give at the end of service along these lines "I enjoyed that!...I like what our church was doing!...Wow we really know how to put on a good Sunday!" then you are treating the Lord's Day as a fundraiser. And if your lack of commitment means you skip the Lord's Day at your church repeatedly for frivolous reasons, you won't be entertained enough to throw some cash at it. But the church is a family. You are not supposed to give because you had a good time worshipping (whatever that may mean) but because you are part of this family and you want it sustained. The property and facilities, pastors (1 Corinthians 9:9) ministries, and members needing financial help (Matthew 25:35) all depend on giving during the Summer just like the rest of the year. I met a man in our community working at National Beef who sent 75% of his earnings back to his family in a third world country to sustain them. It is difficult to imagine him bailing out of his generosity because of Summer plans. The church is a family, so be faithful to give.
The Church Is A Family, Not A Charity: So Be Faithful to Serve
Volunteering to serve non-profit organizations or stand-alone events is a great thing. It is a way to get you out of yourself and focus on the people around you. It can enable you to follow Paul's instruction to not only look to your things, but the things of others (Philippians 2:4). But that command is actually given, in its context, to a first-century church family that Paul was warning against selfishness and division. Thus the most direct way to follow this teaching is by serving the people in the church at which you are a member. It is no secret that at Fellowship Baptist Church we encourage serving. We even have a wall called the "Serve Wall" that lists offers different avenues for personally volunteering in one of our ministries. I hope you have signed up for something. But just as much, I hope you don't quit or back out of your commitments easily. Are there ever good reasons to step away from a ministry? Of course. And for those reading this who up to this point think of me as a guilt-wielding ogre with a keyboard, I want to readily admit that just because you may back out of a ministry does not mean you are doing anything wrong. Sickness happens. Work hours change and are often outside of our control. Other personal needs arise that require church members to quit volunteering. But I am concerned when people walk away for frivolous reasons because their time and attention is being given to things that simply don't matter. Can I be specific? Quitting the prayer team or the bus ministry or a children's class should feel much harder for you then walking away from a school lunch program or at a sporting event. Family obligations, if that is how you see them anyway, are not to be cast aside lightly. And if you begin to see them that way, then they won't be.
The Church Is A Family, Not An Event: So Be Faithful to Assemble
Let me beat you to it. No, for the record, I am not about to suggest it is always a sin to miss church. Going out of town can be great (I enjoy it). Vacation is a blessing (if you can afford it of course, rest is good). Skipping service when you are sick is preferable to getting other people sick (been there). Soldiers get deployed. Saints age to the point where their health keeps them shut-in (and some of them are very godly Christians). So you read it from me. I am not saying it is always wrong to miss church. No, no, no. But, you should be faithful to gather. Well-run church gatherings present a blessing and a danger. The blessing is rather obvious and the danger usually isn't. You see, a quality church service with clear preaching (that's you Tyler), talented musicians (we have those too) great lighting and sound, and nice facilities can be an event people enjoy even if they have no loving, committed attachments to the family that is gathering during that service. How do you know if you see church as an event rather than a family? How can you know if your paradigm is wrong?
One way to test yourself is by asking these two questions: (1) "What does it take for me to miss?" and (2) "What do I feel when I miss?" Let's think about that first question - "What does it take for me to miss?" Toward the beginning of the last paragraph I offered several understandable reasons for missing church. But I hope you realize there are thousands of terrible reasons for missing church. Kids' traveling sports, staying up too late, having family in town (just bring them!) going to casinos, children not wanting to attend, or the classic sweeping excuse that one has simply been too busy - these are all actual reasons I have heard for repeatedly missing church during the Summer. Now, I could go through each of these and explain why these are thoroughly inadequate reasons for missing the Lord's Day gathering. But that won't do a lot of good - it would be like trying to fight Hydra, cut off one excuse and two will grow back in its place. I would rather you adopt a new framework. If you think about church as an event, then there will always be another reason to be unfaithful. But if you thought of church like a family, then I don't have to tell you those are bad reasons to miss - you will already see it.
Let's consider that second question: "What do I feel when I miss?" I think this gets to the heart of the issue for most of us. We know what it's like when we miss family. And we know what it's like to miss an enjoyable event. The two are worlds apart. Pastors have different things they hear from church members that can be very encouraging, or very discouraging. There is nothing quite as encouraging as to hear a Christian say "I am so glad to be back, I missed my church family so much!" Now, the person that says this was probably just saying something on their heart, but what they didn't realize is that they were uttering a deeply revealing look into their paradigm for what the church is. It's a family. But I have also heard the reversal of this statement. How disheartening it is to hear, from a chipper Christian, "We just watched live-stream!" Whenever I hear this I have the instant urge (which I typically suppress) to quip back, "Careful, your theology is showing." To be clear I do not think live-stream in itself is totally wrong (it can do a little bit of good) but I do think the way most Christians understand livestream is, frankly, terrible. Let me ask you: what clear-headed person would suggest that live-streaming Thanksgiving with your family is an adequate substitute for the real thing? Unless you were on one side of the cultural fringe during the Covid years, I think you would agree that the two experiences are not fit to be compared. Thanksgiving is not something to be watched but something to be joined, it's not a story you observe but a story you are in. Imagine making a Thanksgiving facetime call without seeing, hugging, and being with your family. That's how you will begin to feel about missing church, if you have the right paradigm.
Adopt the biblical framework for church. See it as a family. Then be faithful this Summer.
There are few things more beautiful than a family in which a husband and wife stick together through hard times. It could be an illness, a deep sin, a lost job, or a string of many small disappointments that threaten to weaken their mutual commitment. But, amazingly, they stay and keep their vows through it all. What keeps a family bond strong through these things? The answer is simple: the right framework for what the family is informs their faithfulness to it. If they have a biblical framework of the family, the right model for what the family is supposed to be, then the commitment is part of what they signed up for in the first place. Similarly, it is beautiful for a pastor to watch Christians be faithful to their church family. All kinds of things threaten this commitment, or at least present the possibility of weakening it. One of those things is Summer and its attendant forms of busyness. So I wrote this piece to give you a new paradigm in which to see your relationship to your local church. I am persuaded that if you see this paradigm in Scripture, and adopt it as your own, you will be in a better position to remain faithful to your church during the Summer. Like a family stays 'sticky' in their commitments if they have a framework that demands it, a church member with the right framework will stay 'sticky' in relation to their church.
A Framework for the Church: A Devoted Family
In Acts 2:41, we read that those who received the gospel message after hearing Peter preach were baptized into the church at Jerusalem. What happens next is the normative pattern for the Christian life on the other side of baptism: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." This devotion to one another reflects Jesus' command that our mutual love would be the hallmark of our discipleship (John 13:34-35). It also is necessary for baptized Christians to be shown how to live out all that Jesus taught (Matthew 28:18-20). It is not surprising then to discover that the church in the New Testament operates like a close-knit family. Paul pulls on this thread in Galatians 6:10 by referring to the church as the "household of faith," the "household of God" in 1 Timothy 3:15, and of course the many references to Christians as fellow brothers and sisters. In one sense, there is the whole family of God, made up of believers. But the nuclear family is most represented by a specific congregation with which you gather, pray, are taught, and eat and drink the supper. So here is the paradigm, the framework I want you to see: your church is a family. In fact, it is more like a family than just about anything else. It is not a fundraiser, it is not a charity, and it is not an event. The reason I raise these three false frameworks is because they all serve as modern foils to the family metaphor we see in the Bible. So let me press into the implications of this glorious biblical paradigm by contrasting it with these unbiblical ones.
The Church Is A Family, Not A Fundraiser: So Be Faithful to Give
I have been to a couple of fundraisers, and I enjoyed them. Food, a musician, or a comedian is brought in to make the writing of the check or the emptying of the wallet a little less forced. I am not against fundraisers. If the cause is worthwhile then why shouldn't I enjoy myself while I donate? But I do think our ecclesiology has gone dreadfully astray if we see our church as a fundraiser. Why do I think this might be a problem? Well, there is a common habit in churches in which people give only in the services which they attend. So, if they dip out during the Summer the money dips out with them. This could be due to the amount of money spent on extravagant vacations. However I doubt this is the reason for most. I think there is a mindset problem that might be underneath this. If you give at the end of service along these lines "I enjoyed that!...I like what our church was doing!...Wow we really know how to put on a good Sunday!" then you are treating the Lord's Day as a fundraiser. And if your lack of commitment means you skip the Lord's Day at your church repeatedly for frivolous reasons, you won't be entertained enough to throw some cash at it. But the church is a family. You are not supposed to give because you had a good time worshipping (whatever that may mean) but because you are part of this family and you want it sustained. The property and facilities, pastors (1 Corinthians 9:9) ministries, and members needing financial help (Matthew 25:35) all depend on giving during the Summer just like the rest of the year. I met a man in our community working at National Beef who sent 75% of his earnings back to his family in a third world country to sustain them. It is difficult to imagine him bailing out of his generosity because of Summer plans. The church is a family, so be faithful to give.
The Church Is A Family, Not A Charity: So Be Faithful to Serve
Volunteering to serve non-profit organizations or stand-alone events is a great thing. It is a way to get you out of yourself and focus on the people around you. It can enable you to follow Paul's instruction to not only look to your things, but the things of others (Philippians 2:4). But that command is actually given, in its context, to a first-century church family that Paul was warning against selfishness and division. Thus the most direct way to follow this teaching is by serving the people in the church at which you are a member. It is no secret that at Fellowship Baptist Church we encourage serving. We even have a wall called the "Serve Wall" that lists offers different avenues for personally volunteering in one of our ministries. I hope you have signed up for something. But just as much, I hope you don't quit or back out of your commitments easily. Are there ever good reasons to step away from a ministry? Of course. And for those reading this who up to this point think of me as a guilt-wielding ogre with a keyboard, I want to readily admit that just because you may back out of a ministry does not mean you are doing anything wrong. Sickness happens. Work hours change and are often outside of our control. Other personal needs arise that require church members to quit volunteering. But I am concerned when people walk away for frivolous reasons because their time and attention is being given to things that simply don't matter. Can I be specific? Quitting the prayer team or the bus ministry or a children's class should feel much harder for you then walking away from a school lunch program or at a sporting event. Family obligations, if that is how you see them anyway, are not to be cast aside lightly. And if you begin to see them that way, then they won't be.
The Church Is A Family, Not An Event: So Be Faithful to Assemble
Let me beat you to it. No, for the record, I am not about to suggest it is always a sin to miss church. Going out of town can be great (I enjoy it). Vacation is a blessing (if you can afford it of course, rest is good). Skipping service when you are sick is preferable to getting other people sick (been there). Soldiers get deployed. Saints age to the point where their health keeps them shut-in (and some of them are very godly Christians). So you read it from me. I am not saying it is always wrong to miss church. No, no, no. But, you should be faithful to gather. Well-run church gatherings present a blessing and a danger. The blessing is rather obvious and the danger usually isn't. You see, a quality church service with clear preaching (that's you Tyler), talented musicians (we have those too) great lighting and sound, and nice facilities can be an event people enjoy even if they have no loving, committed attachments to the family that is gathering during that service. How do you know if you see church as an event rather than a family? How can you know if your paradigm is wrong?
One way to test yourself is by asking these two questions: (1) "What does it take for me to miss?" and (2) "What do I feel when I miss?" Let's think about that first question - "What does it take for me to miss?" Toward the beginning of the last paragraph I offered several understandable reasons for missing church. But I hope you realize there are thousands of terrible reasons for missing church. Kids' traveling sports, staying up too late, having family in town (just bring them!) going to casinos, children not wanting to attend, or the classic sweeping excuse that one has simply been too busy - these are all actual reasons I have heard for repeatedly missing church during the Summer. Now, I could go through each of these and explain why these are thoroughly inadequate reasons for missing the Lord's Day gathering. But that won't do a lot of good - it would be like trying to fight Hydra, cut off one excuse and two will grow back in its place. I would rather you adopt a new framework. If you think about church as an event, then there will always be another reason to be unfaithful. But if you thought of church like a family, then I don't have to tell you those are bad reasons to miss - you will already see it.
Let's consider that second question: "What do I feel when I miss?" I think this gets to the heart of the issue for most of us. We know what it's like when we miss family. And we know what it's like to miss an enjoyable event. The two are worlds apart. Pastors have different things they hear from church members that can be very encouraging, or very discouraging. There is nothing quite as encouraging as to hear a Christian say "I am so glad to be back, I missed my church family so much!" Now, the person that says this was probably just saying something on their heart, but what they didn't realize is that they were uttering a deeply revealing look into their paradigm for what the church is. It's a family. But I have also heard the reversal of this statement. How disheartening it is to hear, from a chipper Christian, "We just watched live-stream!" Whenever I hear this I have the instant urge (which I typically suppress) to quip back, "Careful, your theology is showing." To be clear I do not think live-stream in itself is totally wrong (it can do a little bit of good) but I do think the way most Christians understand livestream is, frankly, terrible. Let me ask you: what clear-headed person would suggest that live-streaming Thanksgiving with your family is an adequate substitute for the real thing? Unless you were on one side of the cultural fringe during the Covid years, I think you would agree that the two experiences are not fit to be compared. Thanksgiving is not something to be watched but something to be joined, it's not a story you observe but a story you are in. Imagine making a Thanksgiving facetime call without seeing, hugging, and being with your family. That's how you will begin to feel about missing church, if you have the right paradigm.
Adopt the biblical framework for church. See it as a family. Then be faithful this Summer.
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