A growing problem throughout our society is absenteeism. Compared with past generations, students today are less faithful in attending classes. Employees are less dependable in showing up for work. And church members are more sporadic in going to church. The reason is that people today, especially young people, feel less need to meet their responsibilities. They have a weak commitment to duty.

Why? Because they are selfish. They measure every option by its potential to make them feel good, and if its feel-good quotient falls below a certain level, they reject it.

Why else? Because they are soft. Any slight physical or emotional upset incapacitates them, leaving them unable to keep up normal routines.

It is a good thing that our nation does not have to fight another war like World War II. Never again will we be able to mobilize a whole nation to live sacrificially for the sake of a war effort, with the chief burden falling on a massive army of citizen-conscripts. People today would be too selfish and soft to meet the challenge.

But we as Christians are in a far more significant and terrible war than any war with guns and bullets (Eph. 6:10-7). The church battles the kingdom of darkness for possession of the souls of men (Matt. 16:18). Each individual believer fights a relentless enemy seeking to destroy his joy and testimony (1 Pet. 5:8). To prevail, we must overcome selfishness (2 Tim. 2:4; 1 Cor. 9:24-5) and softness (2 Tim. 2:3; 1 Cor. 9:27). One proof that we are good soldiers is faithful support of the church, a support that does not neglect membership and regular attendance.

As we observed in the last lesson, Jesus used four verbs to define the mission of the church:

1. go,
2. make disciples,
3. baptize,
4. teach all things whatsoever He has commanded.

Also as we observed in the last lesson, every individual has reciprocal obligations. He must

1. receive the one sent,
2. become a disciple,
3. be baptized,
4. hear and believe the teaching of all these things.

These obligations place him in a role of dependence upon the church, for it is the church that gives him the gospel, baptizes him, and instructs him in Bible truth. Clearly, then, God expects a Christian to go to church.

Moreover, because a Christian has become a disciple and received baptism, he is himself now a member of the church. Whether or not he belongs to a local assembly of believers, he belongs to the church universal, which includes all believers in Christ—the same church that Christ addressed when He laid down the Great Commission. Therefore, every Christian has an obligation to participate in the work of going, making disciples, baptizing, and teaching. But how can he do anything worthwhile by himself? A lone wolf is not very effective. To do the work of Christ in such a way as to achieve real and lasting results, he must do it in cooperation with other Christians. He must join a church and support its ministries, as well as using it as a base for his own ministries.

A new convert might object that he does not need the church to teach and exhort him. He might say, rather presumptuously, that he can teach himself everything he needs to know. After all, he has the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Are they not sufficient? In defense of his ambition to be independent, he might even know enough Scripture to quote Psalm 119:99-100.

But this verse is talking about a mature Christian. Indeed, a Christian with discernment honed by deep study and faithful application of the Word can be his own teacher. He profits by the ministries of the church, but he could survive spiritually without them. But the Bible likens a new Christian to a spiritual infant (1 Cor. 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:2). Like a baby, he must depend on others to feed him. His mind has been so molded by a lifetime of worldly influence and his heart has been so twisted by a lifetime of sin that even though he reads the Bible, he will not come to the right conclusions. He will force Scripture to fit his pre-existing ideas and habits. He needs to sit under the teaching of godly men, who will show him the true meanings and correct applications of Scripture.

The Holy Spirit can, without help from any human agency, bring such conviction to the heart of a new believer as to break down his foolish habits, and such enlightenment as to dispel his foolish ideas. But God prefers to work through the church. He never takes direct action that preempts a ministry He has given His children. Because such a ministry is good for them, He declines to interfere with it. Consequently, He directs a new convert to attend church and, if he refuses to go, gives him no promise of private tutoring by the Spirit.

God's plan for spiritual babes is to place them in a nursery where they come under the care of gifted people (Eph. 4:4-8, 11-16). The nursery is the church (for the context, compare Eph. 1:22-3, 4:4, and 4:12). The gifted people fall into four groups (a similar list occurs in 1 Cor. 12:28):

1. Apostles. In the New Testament, this term is reserved for a few leaders of the early church, among them the original twelve disciples (Luke 22:14), Matthias (Acts 1:26), Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:14 ), and James, the Lord's brother (Gal. 1:19). Whether others held this office, we do not know. The term means "one sent," referring to someone like a messenger or ambassador.
2. Prophets. The term comes from roots which convey the meaning "foretell." But in usage, the term referred more broadly to anyone who speaks under divine inspiration or with divine enablement. Thus, in the New Testament, the term variously means a foreteller (Acts 11:27-8; 21:10-1), a preacher (Acts 15:32), or a writer of Scripture (2 Pet. 3:2; Eph. 3:5). The use of this term in Ephesians 3:5 suggests that in Ephesians 4:11, Paul intends the authors of the New Testament.
3. Evangelists. Only two figures in the New Testament are called evangelists: Philip, one of the original seven deacons (Acts 21:8) and Timothy (2 Tim. 4:5). Paul's instructions to Timothy show that he regarded an evangelist as primarily a church-planter (1 Tim. 3:1 ff.; 5:21-2; 2 Tim. 2:2), who exercised some continuing authority over the new churches he had established (1 Tim. 1:3; 5:19-20).
4. Pastor-teachers. The King James treats the two offices as distinct, but most interpreters infer from the Greek construction that Paul is describing only one office, involving both pastoring and teaching. The parallel passage (1 Cor. 12:28) mentions only teachers.

The list is obviously a descending hierarchy. Only the last two offices remain in our day.

The work of discipling believers resembles school teaching. A teacher labors within a predetermined framework of goals and objectives, methods and strategies. Goals and objectives state the content to be learned. In a course on beginning algebra, for example, the objectives name the specific topics, and the goals name the main content areas. As for strategies and methods, an algebra teacher has a variety to choose from. He might decide to provide for the special needs of poorer students. To implement this strategy, he might use both lecture and individualized instruction, two examples of methods.

Likewise the church has methods, strategies, goals, and objectives. The passage we are examining reveals what they are.

1. Method. The only legitimate method of ministry is "speaking the truth in love" (v. 15). It is not enough to speak truth. Without love, truth is a bitter pill that the hearer instinctively spits out. The Bible advises all Christian workers to use gentleness (2 Tim. 2:24) and tact (Col. 4:6) founded on genuine concern (Gal. 5:13).
2. Strategy. A strategy is a rule for choosing the best means to reach an objective. The rule for ministry is that every means we employ should edify the saints (v. 12). We must avoid the trap of doing whatever is most popular or entertaining.
3. Objectives. Paul mentions several. The work of the church should equip the saints for ministry (v. 12), produce unity of the faith (v. 13), increase knowledge of Christ (v. 13), and build resistance to false doctrine (v. 14).
4. Goal. There is one overarching goal—to help spiritual babes grow to maturity, defined as becoming like Christ (vs. 13, 15).

To gain the benefits the Lord provides through the church, how often is it necessary to attend? To what extent must a Christian be involved in his church?

The Bible does not respond to these questions directly. But it leaves no doubt as to the right answer. Perhaps the most helpful passage is Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The idea tying the passage together is this: if we love God as much as we ought, we will devote as much time as we can to learning, meditating upon, and teaching His Word.

In one week of our lives we have approximately 112 waking hours. The church asks us to spend only four or five of these in church services. If we stay away from the gatherings that God provides to ground us in His Word, how can we imagine that we are making His Word the center of our lives, as Deuteronomy 6 requires? We should come to church whenever the doors are open, unless we are (as we say) "Providentially hindered." That is, we should come

1. unless we are too sick to come,
2. unless we have no transportation to church, or
3. unless we must carry out deeds of mercy or necessity. A mother can stay home to care for a sick child. A fireman can go to work instead of church because there is no sabbath rest for emergencies. A man can miss a service because he has stopped to help a stranded motorist.

After a Christian has sat in church for many years and learned all things whatsoever, is he then free to pick up his diploma and leave? No. The aim of his education in spiritual things has been to prepare him to share in the work of the church (Eph. 4:12). The church helps each believer grow so that when he is mature, he can help others grow also. It feeds him so that someday he can be a feeder.

Scripture includes teaching in the job description of every mature Christian (Heb. 5:12). (In James 3:1, where "master" is the same word, "teacher," we find the apparently opposite instruction, but James is likely thinking of a teacher in leadership—in other words, a pastor-teacher). Indeed, not only in the family, but also in the church there are, or should be, unlimited opportunities to teach. In most churches, the ministries that require teachers include Sunday School and children's church, as well as other ministries to children and youth. A healthy church is one that offers every mature Christian many opportunities to participate in evangelizing the lost and feeding the young in faith.

It is obvious that a Christian cannot take advantage of these opportunities, or of the many other opportunities to serve God under the umbrella of a church, if he attends a church without joining it. A mature Christian must therefore not only remain faithful in attending a church; he must also keep his membership in a church.

What does it mean to be mature? It does not mean old in years or perfect in character or complete in wisdom. Where we have said "mature," perhaps we should have said "mature enough." A believer needs some knowledge and experience before he seeks to teach others anything beyond the simple gospel. But the prerequisite is not to attain a high spiritual plateau. Indeed, the best way to advance quickly in knowledge of God's Word is to prepare lessons, and the best way to grow quickly in Christian experience is to become active in ministering to people. Therefore, even a young believer should seek out opportunities to teach.

The text generally used to teach the necessity of church involvement is Hebrews 10:25, which indeed shows that detachment from the church is contrary to God's will. But the text is instructive also in another way. It teaches that church involvement will become even more imperative as the day approaches. It means the day of Christ's return. The author is undoubtedly thinking of Christ's many warnings that the Last Days will be a dangerous time.

1. It will be a time when people, even professing Christians, will eat and drink to excess (Matt. 24:38-9; Luke 21:34-6).
2. They will be obsessed with marrying and giving in marriage (Matt. 24:38-9).
3. They will be consumed with worldly care and anxiety (Luke 21:34-6).
4. They will be so deficient in faith that they will stop praying (Luke 18:1-8).
5. They will stop looking for Christ's return (Luke 21:34-6).

Paul, building on what Christ Himself taught, added many details to the picture Scripture gives us of this same historical period. In the Last Days,

1. men will be proud, selfish, and treacherous in character (2 Tim. 3:1-4).
2. They will have a form of Christian religion, but it will be spiritually empty (2 Tim. 3:1-4).
3. Foolish teaching will enter the church, even as good teaching is scorned (2 Tim. 3:13; 4:3-4).

Living as we do in the Last Days, we face all these perils as a present reality. The writer of Hebrews counsels us that an essential safeguard against the snares crowding our path is faithful participation in a good church, where godly men can exhort us how to walk.

The Book of 1 John furnishes several ways of assessing whether we truly belong to Christ. One of the most important is the love test (1 John 3:14). If a person stays away from church, can he say that he loves his brothers in Christ? Does he love them if he chooses never to see them? One mark of love is a desire to be near the beloved. A professing Christian with so little regard for other Christians that he is content to live apart from the church should, on the authority of 1 John, question his salvation. The test of brotherly love finds him to be no different from a heathen.