Five Ways Skipping Worship is Killing Your Church
Acts 10:25 – And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some
people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return
is drawing near.
There are tons of things
you could do on Sunday besides go to church.
Football games, vacations, competitions, amusements, and many other
things beckon us to choose them instead of church. In addition, there are many Sundays people just
want to take a break and stay home.
Perhaps that is why church attendance in our country has declined steadily
over the past 30 years. It might not
seem like a big deal to you, but it is hurting you spiritually and it is
killing your church.
Here are five ways
skipping worship on Sunday is killing your church (and your own spiritual life):
Number one
– It makes the worship service less exciting for everyone.
Your
presence in worship is vital because it feeds the whole congregation. A half-empty sanctuary makes for a dull
worship service. There are fewer voices
singing the songs. The sanctuary feels
cold and lifeless. When you skip church,
you are hurting everyone else who needs you to be there as part of the body of
Christ (and you are missing out too).
Number two
– It discourages your leaders.
Your pastor probably spent at least 20 hours
preparing the message. The choir
director spent a similar amount of time.
The 15-30 choir members spent hours rehearsing. Then there are other volunteers who prepared
for Sunday school, children’s church, who cleaned, who set up the sanctuary,
and a number of other responsibilities. It
is disrespectful of their efforts when you choose to skip church and it
discourages them. On the other hand,
your full support excites and inspires them to do a great job, which builds momentum and great ministries at your church.
Number
three – You lose touch with the life of your church.
Your
church is a vibrant place. You need to
stay active to grow. You have to know
what’s going on to participate. When you
skip, you don’t know what’s going on.
You can try to stay up-to-date through emails, Facebook, and
newsletters, but it’s not the same. If
you are absent, you will miss something important. It only takes one Sunday away and you already
begin to drift. Miss two or more and you
are seriously out of the loop. You
better get back to church quick and get plugged in.
Number
four – It messes up your priorities.
Jesus said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else…” (Matthew
6:33). You decide the top priorities of
your life by what you spend your time, money, and energy doing. When you choose the football game (or
anything else) over church, you have made a decision about what comes first in
your life. There are thousands of things
you could choose besides church, but these won’t bring you closer to the
Kingdom of God. It’s time to be honest
about what’s most important to you. I
hope you will seek the Kingdom of God above all else.
Number
five – It robs the church of the resources it needs.
The fact is
it takes money to run a church. Excellent
ministry requires excellent staff who need to be paid. The church building has to be paid for and
maintained. Ministry to the needy requires funding. Poor attendance leads to
poor finances because people who skip usually do not give an offering. When finances are down, the work of God suffers.
Everyone's situation varies, but--in general--you shouldn't miss more than 5 Sundays per year. For most people, that should be plenty to account for illness, vacations, and the occasional special situation. If you are missing more than 5 Sundays per year, you may need to re-evaluate your priorities and decide if your commitment to Christ and His Church are what they need to be.
If you are skipping
church, you are helping to kill it. Perhaps
it’s time we look in the mirror and start making some changes. Of course, I’m no expert and certainly don’t
claim to know everything, but that’s the Truth as far as I can tell…
Remember, God loves you and so do I!
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