Church Meetings (2) - Attend or Follow

Much is made of the reference to "meeting together" in Heb 10:24,25.A

nd let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.

The Greek word for “meeting together” is “episunagogue”. There is nothing to suggest that the passage only refers to formal meetings. Jesus used the verbal form of this word when saying referring to a hen gathering her chicks together under her wings. It can refer to a formal meeting, but often does not. The author of Hebrews is warning about the dangers of isolation from other believers. He wants Christians to spur each other on. That can happen anywhere, bit it rarely happens in big meetings, because people get dulled by too much “spurring on” from preachers.

When a person comes to faith in Jesus, the standard instruction to the new Christian is to join a good church. The unspoken assumption is that if they attend a church meeting each week, they will be fine (ie meetings save?) But they will not be fine. Millions of Christians have attended meetings for years and years, but remained immature and in ineffective. Issues that should be been resolved in the first few months of following Jesus continue to weigh them down for their rest of their lives.

Better advice would be to tell the new Christian to find someone to follow (this is Pauls approach). If the new Christian has a pastoral nature, they should find someone who in effective in that gifting and follow them round until they have become effective their ministry. If they have an evangelistic calling, they should find an effective evangelist and follow them until they have become an effective evangelist. If the new Christian has a prophetic bent, they should find an effective prophet and follow them until they have learned how to be an effective prophet. If they are confused about their calling, and choose the wrong person to follow, it will soon become clear. They can switch to a different person to follow when their calling is clear.

Following a more mature Christian is a far more effective strategy for a new Christian wanting to learn the Jesus stuff, than joining a church and attending meetings. We should stop telling new Christians to join a church. Instead, we should say, “Follow me!” or “Follow Fred” or “Follow Freda”.