Sad Trends in the Local Church

I have noticed a subtle, yet increasing shift in local attendance in church. In the 50s when I was first saved in what might be called a fundamental bible church, attendance was about the same on Sunday mornings and evenings, and in the Wednesday evening bible study and prayer meeting. Oh, there were other bible studies in homes for covenant groups, and organizational meetings, etc., but the major three assemblies were thought to be a time when “duty” to worship together was considered a priority. Today, in churches all over the world, other “priorities” have replaced the old, with many churches having neither Sunday evening or midweek services. Whatever happened to:

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Do these “other” priorities exist in your church, as they do in mine? Our attendance on Sunday and Wednesday evenings can only be described as poor. What response can or do they give to the following:

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”

The reasons I have been given range from “family together time” to “too busy” and back again. Does or should faithfulness have a high priority in church attendance?