Guilt Without The Association

44Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2: 44 - 47 NKJV

Our normal Sunday morning discussion group took a hiatus this week as a few of our brothers were out of town.  For the sake of this discussion, I did not feel guilty for taking the week off.  Instead, Dennis and I agreed to meet at the home of a family whom we both habe known for quite some time.  As we gathered around the table, memories were shared and friendships reopened.  Eventually, our discussion led us into a conversation of our lives in Christ.  During this conversation, it was mentioned quite a few times of the guilt we often feel for not coming together in church on Sunday morning.  I can attest that I've often felt this myself.  Did God mean for us to feel guilty or ashamed for not coming to His house to worship?  Do we NEED a building to glorify God among friends?  My answer is definately not.  However, man y a christian today still harbors a sense of guilt for not filling a pew on Sunday morning.  This "Guilt without the association" mentality can be damaging not only to a persons beliefs, but to their faith as well.  As I mentioned, I did not feel guilty in the least for missing our regular Sunday morning square table group this week.  I love my brothers, but we all indeed have other life commitments from time to time.  I will say one thing, and that is that I feel more blessed, at home and in our Lords presence in our Sunday morning group than I have in any church I've come across.  That's just how I feel.  We come together, share our lives together and in the process we learn and discover the truth of Christ Jesus in our lives.  I do not see how God could resent such a blessed fellowship.  As we gathered this morning, I was reminded of the example of the early church of the folloers of Jesus we are given in Acts 2.  There was no structure, no rules and no doubt that our Lords Spirit was among us as we gathered.

22Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23“for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25“Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26“And He has made from one jblood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28“for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
Acts 17: 22 - 28 NKJV

From my own experience, I've often felt as if my attendance in Sunday morning worship was pretty much mandatory.   Not only was I expected to attend, but to serve, to give and to convince others to to the same.  For these were the actions of a true servant of God, so I was told.  My devotion to God was exemplified through my church attendance.  When it happened that I would miss a Sunday, then the next week I found myself fumbling for excuses as to why I had forsaken the Lords day.  Was this behavior a example of Gods love?  Probably not, but I didn't know any better at the time.  For myself, I came to a profound realization once I left the church I had attended for many years.  Somehow, in the midst of my obviously blasphemous behavior, I had discovered a new found freedom in my heavenly Father.  It was almost like the church had been blocking me from feeling my Lords presence all along.  I had never felt closer to God in any church I had attended.  Why is that?  Why is it that, as a few others mentioned this morning, that so many people feel trapped in church?  Well, I believe that the rules and regulations of the modern institutional church often perpetuate this feeling.  We are expected to attend, we are expected to give until it hurts and, above all, we are expected to do all of this joyfully.  It was not until I left the church that I realized that my joy is not in the man made building, but in the presence of Jesus.  I believe that we have made the mistake of creating an idol out of our often ornate houses of worship.  All the while, God has been knocking on the door wanting us to let Him inside.

~Scott~