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Ours is a nomadic society. Previous generations would have been quite unfamiliar with vacationing, commuting, or relocating. It wasn’t uncommon for a man to be baptized, married, and buried in the church down the street from his lifelong home—the same church that awarded him a lapel pin for his perfect Sabbath school attendance for 936 consecutive Sundays. In modern America, on the other hand, the average person moves nearly twelve times in his lifetime, commutes nearly one hour per day, and vacations two or three times per year. Regarding relocation, the most common reasons include employment, location preference, and family size. Notwithstanding the benefits of experiencing various regions of the world, there are no doubt significant ecclesiastical difficulties that accompany a nomadic lifestyle. For one, just imagine trying to get “plugged in” to twelve different churches in your lifetime. Most of us are daunted by the thought of plugging in to one church.
Indeed, a nomadic, commuter, and leisurely lifestyle makes involvement in church life more difficult, leaving us to wonder, Is genuine, lifelong Christian fellowship a relic of a bygone era, like that of a perfect Sabbath school attendance pin? Should we settle for a brief Sunday-morning appearance before returning to our normal lives? Should “virtual fellowship” take the place of flesh-and-blood communion? The answer to these questions, I believe, is no. The duties of Christian fellowship and church membership do not adapt to lifestyle customs. As we consider ways to be faithful covenant members in a world that balks at all three of those words, we would do well to ponder anew the instructions of the author of Hebrews: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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” (Heb. 10:24–25). If we want to “plug in” to the church, we could do worse than to pay close attention to these instructions.
First, we are told to consider how. The command involves giving careful, deliberate thought to how we might best serve God’s people, making the best use of the time and gifts we have according to the measure of Christ’s gifting (Eph. 4:7). This requires studying the strengths, weaknesses, needs, and personalities of a congregation. We don’t come in to a congregation and expect opportunities for service and fellowship to fall into our laps. It takes vigilance to be on guard against our susceptibility to isolation. It takes purposeful consideration of the ways that we can fellowship with the saints. It takes careful and wise decisions about what we say yes to and what we say no to. If there were a one-size-fits-all approach to church involvement, Hebrews wouldn’t have to advise careful consideration.
Second, we are to stir up one another to love and good works. That is, we are to love sincerely and strive to do works that are truly good. This entails serving where we are most needed, not necessarily where we are most visible or where we think we’re best suited. The goal is to build up the church, not ourselves (see 1 Cor. 14:4). Additionally, true Christian love welcomes the burdens of those in the church who are weak and afflicted, depressed and burdened, and seeks to do good to them. As John Owen describes, we are to have “bowels of compassion as a fruit of love” and “to be sensible of, and intimately moved for, the several burdens of the saints.” We fulfill the law of Christ by bearing His people’s burdens (Gal. 6:2).
Third, we are to meet together. Show up for things, first and foremost for worship. Consider attending evening worship as well, if your church offers it. There’s a direct correlation between how involved we feel in the church and how often we darken the doors of the church. In Hebrews’ exhortation to not forsake assembling together, primacy is given, no doubt, to Sabbath-day corporate worship, though other fellowship events are welcome supplements. It’s hard to feel uninvolved at church if you’re always there.
Fourth, we are told to encourage one another. The parishioner who focuses on how to encourage others rather than focusing merely on how to be encouraged by others will naturally be a vital member in that local body. Ask questions. Wait around for the answers. Look your brothers and sisters in the eye. Remind them of the promises of God, not to appear pious, but because you care for their souls. The most encouraging saint in any church is an involved church member.
Finally, we are to see the Day drawing near. This is an encouragement to Christians to keep the end in sight. Hebrews draws on eschatology to stimulate the church to fulfill its fellowship duties: we are to do so “all the more as [we] see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:25). This eschatological perspective inculcates within us a long view of church membership. In our nomadic age, we may not be in the congregation we’re currently in forever. There’s no biblical mandate to stay in one congregation if the Lord providentially moves us to a different area. But this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t jump into church fellowship as if this were the church where we will be married and buried. No matter our tenure, the Day is drawing near. And the fellowship that we will enjoy with the most annoying member of the church in the new heavens and new earth will far surpass the sweetest fellowship that we currently enjoy with the most delightful saint we know.
This eschatological perspective reminds the church member who struggles to get involved that he is already involved—he is vitally and inseparably united to Christ and to His people. Tapping into that blessed union gives us the courage to plug in when we’d rather unplug. The communion of saints as we experience it today is but a glimpse of what it will be. Until we come into the fullness of that communion, may the Lord prove Himself “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Indeed, “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20–21).