Introduction
A local Pentecostal pastor recently remarked to me, that whilst the numbers in his congregation were quite steady week by week, there was always a significant rollover. Sadly, patterns of intermittent attendance, seem to be a feature of a postmodern mindset. I listened with amazement some months ago when a Baptist minister told me that during the COVID lockdowns they lost around a half of their young families. It wasn’t as if these younger believers intentionally dropped off attending church, as though their beliefs had altered, it was just that in the flow of life they “discovered” that on Sundays there were more interesting things to do around the house or to enjoy with the family. In contrast, even when my own, mostly elderly, Anglican congregation had to resort for weeks to Zoom, we lost zero participants. Yes, even where some of the most ancient members in their 90’s had to depend on others to function! At one level, all this might be explained in terms of the big C that is, the presence or absence of “Commitment”, but in another way something far more profound is at work.
Convenience
Whilst “convenience” might appear to be a rather trivial matter in relation to obeying “God Most High” (Psalm 57 verse 2), it seems to have attained the status of an indispensable condition. What is more imperative to contemporary people than to be accompanied by their mobile phone? For the sake of convenience, rather than efficacy, masses of believers now refer to the Bible on their phone rather than paper Bibles. This creates numerous problems. The first is being distracted, say by a “vital” text message or Facebook post. Second, there is a lack of context. Whereas when I lead Bible studies the students have multiple fingers and pens in passages linked thematically across the Scripture, the digital readers can only see a few verses on their screen at a time. Finally, using a digital Bible will never lead to the memorising of multiple portions of God’s Word. My Bible is full of handwritten notes, lines linking verses, underlined portions and so on. The visuospatial character of a print Bible assists our memories. The most of the contemporary Church has however become addicted to convenience, regardless of any cost to spiritual growth. For evidence that these are more than conjectures or anecdotes look it up for yourself at https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-science-of-why-you-remember-print-books-so-much-better/. https://hechingerreport.org/evidence-increases-for-reading-on-paper-instead-of-screens/ Whilst all the above is definitely a generational problem, it’s roots go very much deeper than this.
Obedience through Sacrifice
Whilst legalistic sacrifice is condemned by Jesus and the prophets (Hosea chapter 6 verse; Mark chapter 12 verse 33), it was the willing sacrifice of Christ that has atoned for the totality of the sin of the world (Ephesians chapter 5 verse 2). This indicates that to make a conscience and difficult decision to be present weekly at the worshipping through an act of sacrificing convenience has real spiritual power. It is the sort of decision that undermines “the cosmic powers over this present darkness” (Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12). When Paul speaks of “the obedience of faith” (Romans chapter 1 verse 5; chapter 16 verse 26), he means that something as simple as being at church weekly, in faith that using your paper Bible will be honoured by God is a powerful action for the sake of the kingdom of God. In the Spirit, you can trust it as “a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God” (Romans chapter 12 verse 1).
Living in Light of the End
People however, being who they are, will never be compelled by rational arguments, like those above, to turn from their deathly “sloth”. The final answer to releasing ordinary men and women from the dogging bondage of cultural inconvenience, is a revelation of the shortness of the time. Paul exhorts, “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians chapter 5 verse 16). Hebrews especially is very direct, “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.”(Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25). For more detail on this you might like to read my previous Christian Today article, “Another Coming”.
Conclusion
“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119 verse 11). Given that sin wounds the heart of God, and ours as well, it is vital we grasp that the inconvenience of faith provides an opportunity to obey the Lord against the flow of an easy life.