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[The following is excerpted from the book, Gather: Getting to the Heart of Going to Church, Copyright © 2021 by M. Hopson Boutot. Click here to download the entire book for free.]  

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If sin is measured against the law of God (i.e., the Bible), then we cannot call Sunday hooky a sin unless the Bible tells us so. Does God’s Word tell us anything about attending church? Well yes, but perhaps not in the way we might think.

For starters, let’s consider an example from the old covenant. In Deuteronomy 4:10 the Israelites were told, “Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.” Similar gatherings were commanded on the eighth day after the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23:36; Numbers 29:35; Nehemiah 8:18), during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Deuteronomy 16:8), and every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:9-13), just to name a few. In addition, Leviticus 23:1-2 indicates the need for a weekly assembly in the life of God’s people. Some might object. “Well that’s the Old Testament!” We’re not required to observe all those religious festivals and gatherings today. Those are specific rules for the Israelite people.” Fair enough. Just note that gathering has always been essential for the people of God.

Let’s move to the New Testament and consider the example of the early church in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” It’s virtually impossible to devote yourselves to the apostles’ teaching if you’re not there to hear it. But this isn’t exactly a prescriptive command though, is it? It’s more descriptive, telling us what the Christians in Jerusalem did, not necessarily telling you and I what to do. Besides, if you travel down to verse 46, you’ll notice that these believers were meeting together every day. Do we really want to suggest that faithfulness requires church attendance 365 days a year?

Or what about 1 Corinthians 16:2? Paul writes this: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” Here we have not only a clear precedent for weekly worship gatherings on Sundays, but we also see the priority of giving in the local church. But again, this isn’t necessarily a command to attend church as much as it is an expectation that the Corinthians will. And once again, we have a descriptive account of Paul’s dealings with the Corinthian Christians, not necessarily a prescriptive account for all Christians everywhere. That is, unless you’re expecting the Apostle Paul to visit your church sometime soon to gather your offering for the suffering Christians in Jerusalem (see verses 1-4).

Other passages may be helpful to varying degrees. Acts 20:7 once again illustrates the practice of the early church to gather weekly on the first day of the week. 1 Corinthians 11:17-33 establishes an expectation that believers are gathering regularly to partake of the Lord’s Supper (among other things). 1 John 2:19 seems to indicate that a permanent withdrawal from the local church indicates the lack of genuine saving faith. But perhaps the most important passage in establishing non-attendance as sometimes sinful is Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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.”

We began this chapter by contrasting Sin Lite with a biblical doctrine of sin. In our study of sin, we observed that God has a standard (His Word) by which all our conduct must be measured. We also noted that there’s one of two paths we travel whenever we sin: omission or commission. We examined some of what Scripture says about church attendance and considered at least one passage with a clear command: don’t neglect meeting together. In other words, we are commanded to faithfully attend church.

Here we arrive at the first reason why non-attendance is sometimes a sin: it is a potential violation of a clear command in Scripture. If God says, “don’t neglect meeting together” and I disobey this command I am guilty of a sin of commission. I have effectively colored outside the lines of God’s design for me as His follower. I have transgressed His law.

At this point your inner attorney may be working overtime, looking for loopholes. Is it right to make such a big deal about something that’s only explicitly mentioned in one verse? To answer that question, we need to look again at sins of omission.