The Priority of Christian Gathering
10/23/25 Bible Thought (Hebrews 10)
The Christian life is not easy, but we do not have to, nor should we, walk it alone.
In Hebrews 10, after the author finishes his extensive comparison of the old and new covenants, an admonishment is given once again towards perseverance:
“and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hb. 10:21-25).
Notice that with the call to perseverance comes the call to gather. For there were some who had made it a habit—that is, “a usual or customary manner of behavior”[1]—to cease gathering.
In the original historical context, it was probably due to persecution. The author’s greatest concern was for those who would forsake the assembly altogether and never return; however, the letter is likewise written to those whom he expected would persevere (Hb. 10:38-39).
Yes, there is a need for endurance and perseverance in the Christian life. Jesus Himself once said, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13).
At the same time, the testimony of Scripture is that those who are genuinely born again will persevere through God’s help (see 1 Pet. 1:3-5). It is certainly a necessity, but a necessity that will be fulfilled by those in whom God has placed His seed (1 Jn. 3:9).
These things in mind, we should see that gathering together with the saints is one means by which God causes us to endure in the faith.
Sadly enough, in contrast with the original audience of Hebrews, in modern American Christianity ceasing to gather with the saints is not due to persecution, but it is generally due to inconvenience.
There is a growing trend of Christians who believe that they do not need the church.
Now I am not advocating for perfect attendance, nor will I vilify people for going on vacation here and there. That being said, many believers regularly miss gathering with little to no excuse. Many claim they are too busy and after all it is “just church.” Believe me, we are all busy. We just make time for what we want to make time for. An hour or two on Sunday does not wreck the other 166-167 hours of your week.
Gathering is simply held in the lowest esteem. A kid’s birthday party, shopping trip, or “long week” become excuses to regularly miss church. If there is anything else they could possibly be doing, they would rather be there than at church.
Furthermore, there are countless people who go into the woods and supposedly that is their church. These people claim to meet with God in a more genuine way in creation than amongst His people.
However, for one, these things need not be mutually exclusive.
Creation points to the Creator (see Rom. 1:20) and as such you should be drawn to worship when you see some of the amazing things God has made. Yet just because you can meet with God there does not entitle you to neglect gathering with the saints.
Interestingly enough, trees will never hold you accountable, the mountains never call you to repentance and no river will stir you to love and good works. You can meet with God outdoors the rest of the week and meet with God indoors on Sunday—these things are not in competition with one another.
The New Testament expectation is that believers will gather together and not need to be consistently told to do so.
Yes, some churches do it wrong. Certainly, there are church hurts and celebrity pastors with their jets and all the rest. At the same time, there are countless good Bible-believing churches with believers who love one another who are shepherded by a faithful man whose car has over 200,000 miles on it.
Lone wolf Christianity is not biblical Christianity. We were made for community. If we do not gather, then we cannot fulfill the New Testament expectation of love (Jn. 13:35) or the countless other “one another” commands of Scripture.
We must gather together to stir one another up towards love and good works and to thereby be stirred by others. We must gather in order to encourage others and thereby be encouraged by others as well.
God uses these means to strengthen us in our faith and to cause us to persevere until the day that we are all gathered together with our Lord.
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 277.
What of those of us who desperately want a church but live out in rural countrysides? There are a few Churches, however, their theology and community do not even mildly align with something I'm comfortable with. Do I gather with them despite the differences? Is that the more Christian thing to do? What is a healthy boundary when it comes to a place to commune and to worship? I mean, there are online services, but that misses the point for me.