We have to first remember that there is no command requiring that a
congregation hold a Bible study on Wednesday night. Churches are to teach its
members, which is implied in Ephesians 4:11 when we are told that one of the
roles in the church is that of a teacher. However, the method of instruction
and the time of instruction is not defined. By tradition churches have held
Bible studies on Wednesday nights. It is not a bad tradition, in fact I think
it is a very useful one, but we must not elevate an expedience to fulfilling
God's command to teach to the level of a command in and of itself.
Different congregations will select different methods to fulfill the
commands that God has given. For example, I know of congregations who choose to
meet once on Sunday. Generally because their members drive long distances or
they are in the middle of dairy country where multiple services on one day is
rough for the farmers. I know some who meet twice on Sunday, but Sunday night's
gathering is for Bible study. I know of a congregation that holds Bible studies
nearly every night of the week. They ask their members to attend at least one
(different topics are offered each night). All of these methods fulfill the
command to the church to teach its members.
So let's turn the question around a bit. When a congregation decides to
offer instruction to its members on week night in order to fulfill its duty to
teach its members, do the members get to treat that time as optional? Doesn't
it seem strange that a church would have a requirement to teach its members,
but the members can treat that instruction as optional?
I've noticed over the years that lack of attendance is a symptom of
serious problems in a person's life. You rarely find a strong Christian missing
any opportunity to gather with fellow Christians, but you usually find weak
Christians absent. The passage in Hebrews tells us why, "Let us hold fast
the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but
exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching" (Hebrews 10:23-25). Strong Christians understand the need for
encouragement. They won't let an opportunity pass them by to get and receive
it. Weak Christians waver in their hope because they aren't being strengthened
by being with their brethren. They lack the zeal necessary to finish the race.
Consider the early Christians. "Then those who gladly received his
word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread, and in prayers. ... So continuing daily with one accord in
the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with
gladness and simplicity of heart" (Acts 2:41-42, 46). How often did the
early Christians get together with their brethren? How often do we? Who, then,
displays a stronger faith and love for God?
But therein lays the core of the problem. People are skipping out on
opportunities to learn about God and to be with His people. It is an attitude
problem. If the attitude was fixed, the lack of attendance would not be nearly
so bad. It is here that I think most of us miss the solution. We focus on the
physical thing that we can see -- not showing up at Bible studies -- and
completely misses the problem that needs to be fixed. There is a spiritual
problem because love has gone cold. What is needed is someone to fan the
flames. Someone to get people excited about being a Christian.
Some of it is the church's fault. I've visited a number of
congregations whose idea of Bible class is the most boring learning experience
I have ever seen. People come out of shear stubbornness and not because they
know they will receive benefits from being there that day. I've seen others,
usually involving young people, where the gathering is nothing but fun and
games. No Bible is taught. God's word is only mentioned in vague terms. And
again, people leave without receiving benefits for being there. Churches need
to get back to their duties. They exist as avenues for people to gather and
worship God and to teach God's people. "I write so that you may know how
you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the
living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Timothy 3:15). The
church exists to hold up the truth to the world and to support it by the
behavior of its members.
Do I think that people won't make it to heaven because they don't
attend Bible studies? No. I think that people who don't attend Bible studies
won't make it to heaven because they don't love being a child of God.
Jeffrey W. Hamilton
La Vista Church of Christ, Nebraska
