Why Is Attending the Service Such a Problem?
The problem is not an attendance problem! When children miss school, it is usually because of a problem at home. So it is with church attendance. Other problems cause this one.
The problem is not attendance; it is a hope problem. "For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." (
The problem is not attendance; it is a love problem. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15.) "Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said unto them, Thou shalt love the God thy heart all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matt. 22:36-38.) Love does not need a command to do things to honor the one loved.
The problem is not attendance; it is a sin problem. "This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19.) It is a hard thing to come to church right in the sight of Almighty God when one is living a sinful life. They think by staying at home that God will not see them. "Be quiet; don't say his name!" (Amos 6:10.)
The problem is not attendance; it is a heart problem. "For where your treasure is there will your heart be also." (Matt. 6:21.) Why do seventy thousand attend a football game while it is raining or snowing? Because that is where their heart is. They love the game. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands defile not a man." (Matt. 15:19-20.) Out of the heart, we speak and act. We act out what is in the heart.
William M. Worthey
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