Do not forsake the gathering
Keep showing up
The writer to the Hebrews names a habit that some had already fallen into, and warns against it: 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 approaching. From the earliest days of the church, some believers had drifted out of the habit of gathering with God's people, and Scripture flags it as a serious loss.
This is more relevant than ever in an age that makes isolation easy and even attractive. There are always reasons to skip the gathering — busyness, tiredness, disappointment with other believers, the feeling that we can manage our faith alone. But the steady, unglamorous discipline of showing up, of being present with God's people again and again, is one of the most important and most neglected practices of the formed life.
Notice the reason given: not for our own sake only, but to encourage one another. When we forsake the gathering, we do not only deprive ourselves; we withhold our presence and encouragement from others who need it. The body is diminished by every part that absents itself. And the writer adds an urgency — all the more as you see the Day approaching — for the need for one another only grows as the days grow harder. Keep showing up. The discipline of presence, faithfully maintained, is how we hold one another up over the long haul.
“Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.”
— To the Hebrews — Hebrews 10:25 (WEB)
Keep showing up to the gathering of God's people — the faithful discipline of presence — not only for your own sake but to encourage others who need you there.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope unyieldingly, for he who promised is faithful.”
We keep a ready ledger of reasons to skip — busy, tired, let down by other believers, sure we can manage faith on our own. The interior work is to recover the unglamorous discipline of presence, turning up again and again even on the days we would rather not, and to reckon what our absence truly costs: skipping the gathering deprives others of the heartening they were counting on and leaves the body short one part, and that need only deepens as the days grow hard.
This week, recommit to the discipline of presence: show up to the gathering of God's people even when busy, tired, or disappointed, and come not only to receive but to encourage someone else who needs your presence there.
The enemy makes isolation easy and even appealing, supplying an endless list of reasons to stay home and the lie that you can go it alone — for the sheep that wanders from the flock is the one most easily picked off. Believers who keep showing up encourage one another and hold each other up over the long haul, well beyond his reach to isolate.
From the earliest days of the church, some believers drifted out of the habit of gathering with God's people, and Scripture flags it as a serious loss — all the more relevant in an age that makes isolation easy and even attractive. There are always reasons to skip: busyness, tiredness, disappointment with others, the feeling that we can manage our faith alone. But the steady, unglamorous discipline of showing up is one of the most important and most neglected practices of the formed life.
And the reason given is not mainly our own benefit but others': we gather to encourage one another. To forsake the assembly is not only to deprive ourselves but to withhold our presence and encouragement from people who need it; the body is diminished by every part that absents itself. The need grows, not shrinks, as the days grow harder. So keep showing up, even when you do not feel like it — the faithful discipline of presence is how we hold one another up over the long haul.
- Have I been drifting from the gathering of God's people?
- Do I see showing up as only for my benefit, or also to encourage others?
- What reasons to skip do I need to push past to keep showing up?
Lord, in an age that makes isolation easy, I drift from gathering with your people, always finding reasons to skip. Keep me faithful in the discipline of presence — showing up to encourage others and be encouraged — all the more as the days grow hard. Amen.