Of the many different characteristics of the church there is that of being the body of Christ. Perhaps this metaphor is most illustrative in one of Paul’s letters to Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 12:14-16, Paul writes, “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” In verse 27 of the same chapter we read, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” We are all members of a great body–Christ’s body–the church. Each one of us has a special role to play within the body of Christ. Every single one of us is important. Every single one of us is necessary.
The illustration Paul uses is this: think about the church as if it were your own personal body. Are there any parts of your body that are not necessary? One time I had an ingrown toenail on my big toe. I tried to fix the problem myself with a pocketknife, but ended up making things worse. I finally decided that I needed to go to the doctor and have something done about it because it was starting to change colors. That doctor cut off half of my toenail just to fix that one little problem and it affected my entire body for several weeks. Who would have thought that half of a toenail was that important? When we look through the eyes of the Spirit, we see that every single member of the church is important and that for us to remove ourselves from that body causes harm to the body. Spiritually we may be no more than half a toenail, but when we leave the body, we hurt the entire body.
With these thoughts in mind, let us consider Hebrews 10:24-26. “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins�.” The writer of the book of Hebrews is writing to Christians who are being tempted to leave the church. His message to these is, “Don’t you realize what you are doing to the body of Christ?” When you leave the church, you discourage the church. However, when you attend the services, you encourage the church. The very presence of our members exhorts us to do at least two things: 1) Love one another, and 2) Encourage one another toward good works. When we commit the sin of absenteeism, we say two things to our brethren: 1) I don’t love you and 2) I don’t want you to do good works. How can this not hurt our brethren? How can this not hurt the church? How can this not hinder the progress of the gospel? Absenteeism is a sin and it is a sin that hurts the church.
This passage. however, says that absenteeism not only hurts the church, it hurts the individual Christian who is absent. Notice that the writer says immediately following the exhortation not to practice absenteeism, that those who sin willfully have no more sacrifice for sin. In other words, the sin of absenteeism causes us to lose our salvation. Really, the choice to attend the assembling of the saints is a choice that is either something we are going to do because we want to do it or because we don’t want to do it. I am not talking about being sick or taking care of another who is sick. I am speaking of the situation when there are no hindrances to our being with our fellow Christians to worship God and we deliberately choose not to go. The Holy Spirit says that this is willful sin and that as a result of that we can expect 1) our sins to remain with us and 2) Christ’s sacrifice to be ineffectual for us. The result is that it not only hurts the church, it hurts us.
There is a story about a man who wrote a letter to the editor complaining of attending services. He stated, “I have been to some 3000 worship services and can hardly remember what the preacher preached on last week.” Another reader responded to this criticism by stating the following, “I have eaten some 32,000 meals in my lifetime and cannot remember what I ate last week.” The point is this, just as those 32,000 meals sustained that individual over a period of time, so also the regular feasting upon God’s word will sustain an individual. What would quickly happen were one to give up eating regular meals? One would grow sick and eventually die. So too when one practices absenteeism, one will grow sick spiritually and ultimately die spiritually. And if every individual in the Lord’s church decided upon this course of action, there would be no church left to attend. Let us resolve not to allow the sin of absenteeism to mar our spiritual lives and damage the church of our Lord.