Don’t Forsake the Assembly

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 1:6

Don’t Forsake the Assembly

by Robert T. Cooper

I’ve been hurt at church and by church people. It seems that many of the people I talk with have had hurtful church experiences. There are even those who say the election of President Obama to a second term is the direct result of so many having been hurt by church people. When we began the church of which I am a part, one of its distinguishing characteristics was (and is) that it is a church for people who have been hurt by churches.

Lots of people will not attend church services because of those hurts. Others will not attend because they have simply allowed themselves to become too busy with other things in life they deem to be more important. Some people don’t see what the big deal is; they believe one can be a fine Christian, or at least a fine person, without the commitment.

Acts 1:6 deals with a special time in the lives of the Apostles. Jesus had risen from the dead. He was meeting with them frequently to give them final instructions. The Apostles didn’t realize the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth would not take place in their near future. They didn’t realize Christ’s Ascension was to come before Pentecost. They were simply fixated on continuing to meet with Jesus and with one another as often as possible.

After the Ascension, 120 disciples set up an around-the-clock prayer meeting. They kept the meetings they had with Jesus before His Ascension going. Jesus was no longer meeting with them in the flesh, yet they knew they were supposed to keep on meeting. After Pentecost, the meetings continued. Many of the meetings were regularly scheduled meetings—at the Jewish prayer hours and at set times between the prayer hours. Many of the meetings were spontaneous as they kept inviting one another to spend time with each other—for the Teaching of the Twelve, for fellowship, for meals, and for prayer.

As the decades went by it became evident that some people were not keeping up with the meetings. Perhaps they were hurt. Perhaps they were overscheduled. Perhaps they were frightened by the persecution that came their way. In fact, the unthinkable happened. Some people were getting to where they didn’t attend any of the meetings at all. Using the terminology of the author of Hebrews, they forsook the assembly.

I know how it is. The situation is such that if something were to happen to my current church or if the politics there drove me away, I don’t know that there is any congregation left in our county I might attend. It would be hard to find a place where I might fit in with the fellowship.

And yet I need to continue meeting with believers. There is a special sense in which “where two or three are gathered” Jesus continues to participate in meetings of believers in ways beyond the manner in which He meets with individuals. It isn’t just me; all believers need to participate in the life of a local congregation.

Questions: Have you ever been through a period of your life in which you didn’t meet regularly with a local church congregation? Why do you think it is so important for disciples to meet together? What can you do to prevent yourself from dropping out?