Is There Ever An Acceptable Reason To Miss Church Service?

[Heart Prick Station]

Whether it's an unsighty principle, a department store sale or a bounced love offering check, it doesn't take much to keep some people out of worship service. There's the all-time classic! "Nothing to wear."

Excuses can ever range to absurdities, like in some account, A sister expressed that she couldn't go to church because she was "having fantasies about her preacher."

The sporadic attendance found at many congregations usually supported by a bevy of excuses, begs the guestion:
"WHEN IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO MISS CHURCH?"

Before you respond, you have to look at why we do assemble - we come together for community, we come together for our offering, to be edified, to build up and encourage one another. If you look at the reason why we are there, when you don't come, you're doing more than just not showing up. Not only do you let God down, you let your brothers and sisters down, because your attendance is my encouragement to stay in the fight.

So with knowing this, understanding the purpose of worshp is paramount to answering this question.

Let me hear from you saints!!!!!!!

[Carla]

Hi There,
This is a great discussion! I am really interested in what people have to say. You are absolutely right:
"we come together for community, we come together for our offering, to be edified, to build up and encourage one another. If you look at the reason why we are there, when you don't come, you're doing more than just not showing up. Not only do you let God down, you let your brothers and sisters down, because your attendance is my encouragement to stay in the fight."....I would just like to add, that this doesn't just mean on Sundays.

I don't think church is a 'one day a week' thing! It's not just on Sundays. Sunday is the day to receive the teaching....it is one of the ways that God speaks to each of us. On monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday,....and sunday we live it out! I hope we are not getting together only on Sundays! My friend, that is why we are also here!!! This is 'church' for some! I believe that this place is blessed! It is wonderful to see eachother on a Sunday, in a building, but what about on a Wednesay....or another day of the week! I attend a prayer group bible study on Tuesdays, and home church on Wednesday, and church on Sundays. If i can't make it to one of those, it truly breaks my heart, however, there are times that I cannot go!

WE absolutely need community!!!! It is important! Some people who are here, are being built up again to trust because they have been hurt by a church or a religion! Let's pray that God will work in all our hearts to accept where each of us is in our walk with Jesus! If this is the only place that some people are able to come, then I 'Praise God' that they are here! Let us not judge eachother!

John 4:23, Jesus says:
"But the time is coming--indeed it's here now--when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way."

[melissa]

I came across this article... I thought it had some good points. It is from http://www.gotquestions.org/missing-church.html.

Question: "What are appropriate reasons for missing church?"

Answer: Many people have an improper and/or unbiblical understanding of church attendance. Some people feel that they must attend church legalistically, being at church virtually every time there is any kind of service or meeting. Some people experience a feeling of guilt whenever they miss a Sunday morning service. Sadly, some churches encourage this guilt by laying excessive pressure on people to attend regularly. When thinking about church attendance and when it is appropriate to miss church, the most crucial thing to understand is that the quality of a person’s relationship with God is not determined by how many church services are attended. God’s love and acceptance for a Christian are not calculated by how many times that Christian attends church in relationship to how many services the church has.

Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, should attend church. It should be the desire of each and every Christian to worship corporately (Ephesians 5:19-20), to fellowship with and encourage other Christians (1 Thessalonians 5:11), and to be taught God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Attending church should be a joy, not a dreadful and dreary assignment. Just as God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), so He is pleased with a genuinely cheerful church attendee (Hebrews 10:24-25).

So, what then are appropriate reasons for missing church? Is it acceptable to miss church to attend a sporting event? Yes. Is it acceptable to miss church while on vacation? Yes. Is it acceptable to miss church when you are sick / ill? Yes. Is it acceptable to miss church because you are tired from a difficult week? Yes. Is it acceptable to miss church simply because you do not feel like attending? Yes. Like so many other issues in the Christian life, church attendance can become legalistic instead of a matter of grace. A person does not HAVE to attend church to be saved, to be a good Christian, to grow spiritually, etc. Rather, a Christian SHOULD attend church to learn about the greatness of God’s gift of salvation, to learn how to become more like Christ, and to have opportunities to minister to others.

Why are you attending church to begin with? Is it to make yourself appear spiritual? Is it to interact with possible business contacts? Is it out of a legalistic thinking that says the more frequently you walk through the doors of a church, the more God is pleased with you? Is a Sunday morning filled with family strife, arguing and screaming, followed by attending church with pasted-on smiling, happy faces? In such an instance, it would be better to stay at home and work on biblically resolving the reasons for the conflict in your family, instead of making a token appearance at church.

It all comes down to perspective and priorities. The busyness of many people’s lives makes church attendance more of a chore than a blessing. If attending church is not important enough, or valuable enough, to instill in you a desire to be active in church – either something is wrong with your church, or something is wrong with your attitude about church. Is your church attendance nothing more than arriving one minute before the service starts, sitting bored and inattentively through the worship and sermon, and then leaving immediately after the service ends? If so, you might as well have missed church, as you did not take anything from it, and you contributed nothing to it. Attending church is not osmosis – merely being in the building does not accomplish anything.

We should want to attend church so we can fellowship with others who have also experienced the amazing grace of Jesus Christ. We should avoid missing church, whenever possible, because we recognize the importance of hearing God’s Word, applying it to our lives, and sharing it with others. We should attend church, not to collect spiritual bonus points, but rather because we love God and recognize what His Word says about the importance of corporate fellowship and worship (Hebrews 10:24-25). Every Christian should attend church regularly. At the same time, missing church for a good reason, or simply because other priorities require it, is in no sense a sin or something that should cause feelings of guilt.

When you miss (do not attend) church, do you miss (have a longing for) church? If so, that is a sign you have a good and biblical connection with church. If not, that is a sign you need to re-evaluate your choice of church and/or participation in church, with the goal of altering your connection with church so that it is a worthwhile use of your time. God knows our hearts. God is not impressed by a person attending every Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, mid-week service, and Bible study opportunity a church has. God’s desire is that we use church for what it is intended for; namely, our own spiritual edification, and the use of our spiritual gifts to minister to others.

[christelle]

AMEN!!!! (from a person who nows attends stress free because she wants to and not because she has to or feels like her salvation depends on it)

[Bob B]

Church is repetitious but so is life. The days of our lives are structured around cycles of work, eating, family and recreation times. Any of these activities can become boring if we don't strive to find something interesting or enjoyable about them. Sunday mornings at church are a time to make new friends and renew old ones; to learn about the Bible and share problems as well as to thank God for another week of life.

The objective in going to church is to seek to build our relationship with God and others. Many people go to church to fulfill an obligation through some ritual and so are reduced to actions without meaning. Church worship is all about an encounter with God and others that changes who we are.

[Carla]

Hi Connie,

Hebrews 10:25 is a call to persevere. It is in our best interest to remain in fellowship as we will most certainly come across many spiritual struggles, and times of persecution.

I don't think the focus is whether or not we are 'in sin' to miss a church service, but rather 'Are we in fellowship'?

Fellowship is important! Even gathering informally to Worship our Lord, is important..to encourage eachother, deepen our Relationship with God, By attending we may also grow in our faith, overcome doubts and questions, and encourage others to do the same. We must have solid relationships developed with our brothers and sisters.

This is something that the Lord has really been working on with me. Even though you may feel the circumstances are not 'important', it may be the enemy trying to keep you from attending. It is small steps away, that may lead to bigger things you may slowly begin to feel are 'not important'.

Prayer is powerful...there is strength in numbers. I encourage you to attend. I pray that our Lord will Bless you abundantly by attending. You being there will make a difference.

Once again, Welcome to this network. I look forward to getting to know you.

Love and Blessings, Carla