Vol. XXXIX, No. 10
October 1 , 2007
YOU HAVE NOT BEEN HERE
by Tom McLemore
We have missed you, because you have not been here among us when we gather. Your absence may be observed when we gather for worship on the Lord’s Day. Your absence is noted when we gather for Bible classes and special activities. You are a baptized believer in Christ, a part of his body. You are a child of God, a member of the household of the Father. But we have not seen you lately, and some of you we have not seen for a long time. We are very sad about it.
Why Have You Not Been Here?
Why have you not been here? Is it because you have had something come up in your life that kept you from being present with us, and you just never came back. Now it may be a long time since you never came back. Did something happen to you, or did you do something, of which you are ashamed? Is it something for which you think we would be ashamed of you? Perhaps it was some fault in which you have been overtaken. Do you think that you are so different from the rest of us? Through his servant James, Jesus instructs us all–both you and us–to confess our faults one to another and pray one for another that we may be healed.
Why have you not been here? Is it because of something someone else has said or done to you that hurt your feelings? That often happens, and it has happened to everyone of us, just as it may have happened to you. All of us are the victims of someone’s sin from time to time. All of us experience the pain of someone else’s conceit, pride, deceit, jealousy, envy, and any number of other sins. It ought not to be, and we all must admit that at one time or another we, too have been on the giving end as well as the receiving end.
But one thing is certain, it is not the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit who has done such against us. Yet it is they who are injured most by your absence. The world hated and crucified Jesus, and he knew it would before he came, but he came anyway.
Why Should Anyone Be Here?
There are many inadequate ideas about why we should be here, and some of them are just plain dangerous. Who knows how many people are present because they have the notion that by attending worship they shall merit eternal salvation! Many of these same ones are able to attain a feeling of superiority because of their practice of attending. Some are present out of a sense of duty. Occasionally someone will raise the question of whether it is required to be present, or which services is it required for a Christian to attend? Many attempts have been made to prove that the Christian has orders to attend.
Regardless of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of such ideas and attempts, it is unlikely that they are greatly persuasive or that they produce action based on higher motives. All of this to say that in response to your not being here, you will not subjected in this article to an attempt to pressure you into being here.
Anyone should be here because one recognizes the nature of being a Christian, the nature of church, and the nature of the assembly. Being a Christian is being part of the family of God. The church is the community of the Lord Jesus, the body of Christ. The Lord’s Day gathering is for fellowship with Jesus around his table in the household of God. It is in this context that we praise God, rejoice with Jesus, and enjoy the encouragement of our brethren. The main idea is that if you want fellowship with Jesus on his day, you will be able to experience it in assembly with his people. That is where he is as he said he would be.
Why Should You Be Here?
Have you been thinking that you don’t get anything out of being present? Whenever anyone thinks such thoughts, it is well to encourage a examination of expectations. Perhaps more than anything else, unrealistic or misguided expectations lead to disappointment. What do you expect? Do you expect something exciting? Something interesting? Something touching? Something moving? These are all legitimate expectations and desires indeed. The question is by what should a Christian expect to be excited, interested, touched, or moved? Is it not the praises of God and Christ, the message of the word of God, the confession of the great truths of our religion, the awareness that we are in this enterprise together and not alone? If you are not excited, interested, touched, and moved by these things, wherein does the deficiency lie?
Imagine an American who is not moved by the Star Spangled Banner, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, Old Glory, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, etc. If one is not interested, excited, or touched by these things, is the problem these things or a lack of understanding of their significance and appreciation for their significance? What options are open to such a person? One could say, "I don’t get anything out of those things, so I will not participate." On the other hand, one could say, "I need to become informed regarding the meaning of these things so that I will be able to experience their significance."
When Will You Be Back Here?
What it comes down to is that getting anything out of anything costs something of the one who receives the benefit. If you have not been here because you don’t think you are getting anything out of being here, are you willing to assume your responsibility for understanding and appreciating what goes on here?
If you have not been here because of what someone said or did that hurt your feelings, are you willing to assume your responsibility to communicate your feelings? And if you communicated your feelings to someone who hurt your feelings and he or she repented and asked for forgiveness, would you forgive him or her and return to the assembly? Perhaps you might consider that the most effective way that you can serve Satan and let him lead you to eternal damnation is to refuse to forgive someone who has repented and asked for forgiveness and proudly use the incident as an excuse for absenting yourself from worship!
If you have not been here because of something you have done of which you are ashamed or think the church would be ashamed of you for, are you willing to let the church forgive you, console you, and welcome you? It is not necessary for you to walk the aisle and make a public confession. You can tell one of the elders or the minister, and one of them can communicate to the church your repentance. In fact, if you will come back here and bring the fruits of repentance, that might be a confession in itself that speaks louder and more clearly than any words that could be said.
Let’s be realistic. If you did come back and acknowledge your wrongdoing, not everyone in the church would be understanding and forgiving, but most would. Those who would not treat those who are still here the same way, also, but perhaps that is part of God’s way of helping us learn how to be understanding and forgiving ourselves. Anyone in the church who will not have compassion, understanding, and forgiveness for a Christian who repents and returns to fellowship is a Pharisee, and such a one is to be pitied (see Matthew 23 and Luke 15). Jesus teaches us that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who [think they] need no repentance.
If you have not been here because you love the world and you don’t love the Lord, then we don’t know of anything we can say or do that will have any effect (Hebrews 6:4-6). If you have not been here because you have become involved with a denominational church, we appeal to you to recognize that such a community is not where the Lord placed you when he saved you, is not your true family, and is encouraging you to follow after things the Lord has not taught.
Who Can Bring You Back?
Whatever may be said of the explanation for your not having been here, it is certain that only you can bring you back. You are ultimately responsible for yourself. You are free to do as you will. God has already given the best heaven has to offer–the blood of the precious Lamb without blemish or without spot. It is you have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.
With all the blessings God has showered upon us all, you are like land which has drunk the rain that often falls upon it. It is up to you whether you will bring forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake you are cultivated or whether you will bears thorns and thistles and be worthless. It is ultimately up to you whether you will be one who receives a blessing from God or one who is cursed and whose end is to be burned.
Even though we speak in this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. PLEASE COME BACK! We miss you and love you!
Designed and maintained by Houston Park Church of Christ Copyright © 2000 by Houston Park Church of Christ 2 Crescent Hill Drive Selma, Alabama 36701 334-874-7941. All rights reserved. Revised: 03 Nov 2007.