Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must assemble

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Ecclesiology is the study of the church. Various aspects of the church and church governance are covered in ecclesiology, usually in abstract terms. This is good and necessary, but I want to take a more practical approach. I want to talk about ecclesiology from a layperson’s perspective: What does it mean to be the church? How do we function together? What are our duties toward one another? In this series, I hope to lay forth an outline of how the church is to be the church. I will not be focusing on outward-facing ministries of the church (e.g. evangelism), but on inward-facing ministries.

Defining terms

First things first: What does it mean to be a part of the church? To answer this question, we must first determine what the word “church” means. Most Christians know that the church isn’t a building, though we sometimes speak that way. “The church is people!” we rightly proclaim (Matthew 18:17, Acts 11:26).

From there, we might say that the church consists of anyone saved by the atoning work of Jesus (Ephesians 5:25, 1 Corinthians 1:2). In this usage, any self-professed Christian – anyone who believes in Jesus – is a part of the church.

But more fundamentally, the church is an “assembly” or a “congregation.” The word translated as “church” in our Bibles is the Greek ekklesia, which literally means “to call together” or “to assemble.”

When the Bible speaks of “the church,” it is speaking of people who are assembled together. “The church” and “the assembly” can be used interchangeably. For instance, when Ephesians 5:25 says that Jesus gave himself for “the church,” it means he gave himself for “the assembly.”

This information greatly enhances our understanding of the church. It not only tells us what the church is, it tells us what the church is to do: The assembly must assemble. The implications of this are significant. If you aren’t assembling, then you aren’t a part of the assembly, and you are therefore not a part of the church.

Assembling at least weekly, on Sunday, is the normative apostolic practice (Acts 20:7). We assemble to worship together – to pray and sing and break bread and fellowship – the details of which are not within the scope of this article. The point is that the church must assemble, regardless of how its events are structured. (Having an assembly further necessitates leadership, which is the basis for church officers.)

Understanding the church in this way makes sense of Hebrews 10:25. We are commanded to not forsake the “assembling” of ourselves together (which is the weekly assembly, by the way). There, the word isn’t ekklesia but episunagoge, which is identical in meaning. Christians are forbidden from forsaking the weekly assembly because assembling weekly is the most foundational thing Christians do.

Exceptions (and vacations)

You might be wondering, “What counts as forsaking?” Certainly, missing worship due to work, sickness, injury, or equivalent doesn’t count. There are many circumstances in which you might not be able to make it to church. These are examples of being providentially hindered. (In today’s world, it may be hard to find a job with every Sunday off. That doesn’t count as forsaking, but Christians should do everything they can to find a job that allows them to worship weekly.)

But consciously skipping church for the sake of convenience, or to take a break, or because you think it isn’t necessary, is disobedience. The modern phenomenon of the “churchless Christian” – the “I-don’t-need-church-Christian” – is a misnomer.

To be clear, I’m not condemning all churchless Christians outright. Some Christians are unaware of the requirement to assemble, whether from ignorance or deception. These types are not intentionally rebelling against Jesus, and I believe he will be merciful toward them. But those who knowingly persist in forsaking the assembly, without repentance, will not remain in God’s favor. They may believe in Jesus, but belief requires obedience (John 14:15, James 2:24). Even the demons believe.

Regular church-goers will be saying “amen” up to this point, but let’s take it one step further. I recommend visiting a church even when you are on vacation. Christians often use travel plans as an excuse to skip worship, but this is untenable. Your road trip should be planned around church, not the other way around. Otherwise, what attitude are you exhibiting? Instead of worship being your sacrifice of praise, you sacrifice worship in the name of “rest and relaxation.” If you have children, you are teaching them that worship is important unless something more fun comes along. This will not bear good fruit. A vacation from work is not a vacation from your most basic requirement as an assembly-member.

Covid-19

What about during a pandemic? This article isn’t written to make a Covid-19 statement, but it must be talked about. As I said earlier, there are many circumstances in which you might have to miss worship. Protecting your health during a pandemic certainly falls within that category. But this only works if you are being consistent with your quarantining methods. It’s one thing to avoid worship when you are avoiding everything; it’s another thing to only avoid worship. If you go everywhere except church, then you’ve decided that church isn’t essential, which isn’t biblical. If you can justify going to work, going shopping, eating out, visiting with friends and family, etc., then you should certainly make an effort to assemble with a local church. You can wear a mask, socially distance, and sanitize your hands just as easily in church as anywhere else.

With that said, I believe pastors have a different responsibility. Since assembling is fundamental to the church, pastors have a responsibility to keep offering worship. Unless the pastor is sick, or unless traveling to church is a physical impossibility (such as in a flood), worship should be offered to all who desire to attend. Canceling worship for one half of your congregation (the quarantined) only disenfranchises the other half (the non-quarantined). Unnecessarily canceling worship would be an abrogation of the pastor’s most basic duty – to lead the assembly in worship. (The pastor should do this even at the risk of civil penalty. God’s laws are higher than man’s laws; the state cannot regulate worship.)

Virtual services can be a temporary alternative for those who are quarantining, but these should not be viewed as sufficient for worship. Watching church online is better than nothing, but it isn’t assembling. There is no way to partake in communion and no way to fellowship. It is, quite literally, the exact opposite of assembling. It is isolation: The viewer is aware of the congregation, but the congregation has no awareness of the viewer. Virtual church should never be legitimized as “assembling,” lest we create a new generation of churchless Christians.

Conclusion

Attending the weekly assembly is the norm for faithful Christians. Those who persistently avoid it are in sin. Out of love for Jesus, we are required to obey all of his commands, not just the ones we find convenient. To be a part of the assembly, you must assemble.

COVID-19, Ecclesiology, lockdown, Worship