Don’t Neglect Meeting Together

How do we stir one another up to love and good works?

Hebrews 10:25 starts with a clear answer: “Not neglecting to meet together.”

The fact that he commands them not to neglect meeting together assumes that Christians were meeting together.

This is basic, but needs to be said. If you’re saved, God didn’t save you to live the Christian life on your own. He joined you to other believers. The New Testament assumes that means becoming part of a local church. While there’s more to church than gathering, there is not less. After all, the word itself means assembly. Being a church requires gathering regularly, committing to one another, and worshiping together.

The early church typically met to do that on the first day of the week. They even had a name for it - the Lord’s Day. But this kind of gathering isn’t just tradition—it’s essential and neglecting to do it - whether by completely dropping out or by treating it casually—is sin.

Why This Matters So Much

Before challenging us about gathering with other believers, the writer of Hebrews has reminded us God has given us amazing privileges through Jesus. He’s contrasted the church with Israel to make clear we have been chosen to play an important part in God’s rescue plan. Now he’s helping us think about how we do that. In Hebrews 10:22-24, he’s given us several simple responsibilities:

• We have responsibility to God - to worship Him.

• We have a responsibility to the world—to show where true hope is found.

• We have a responsibility to one another—to help each other spiritually.

In verse 25, we discover one absolutely essential and non-negotiable requirement for fulfilling those responsibilities: showing up week after week. Unfortunately, doing that can be a challenge. Neglecting to gather is a real temptation.

Back when Hebrews was written, persecution may have made gathering risky. Staying home meant staying safe. But even that wasn’t a valid excuse. John Owen said those who made neglecting gathering with the church here on earth because of fear were demonstrating they weren’t going to be part of the gathering of the church in heaven. That’s intense. But this responsibility is so important that if we are physically able to do so, gathering together with other believers in a local church on a regular basis is not optional, even if it is dangerous.

If persecution isn’t an excuse, our modern distractions and busy schedules certainly aren’t. They sure can feel like it though. If you don’t have a strong conviction about gathering, you’ll always find reasons not to. But, Jesus isn’t looking for justifications. He’s given us a command. When you are trying to make excuses for not gathering with other believers, imagine saying it directly to Him. If you wouldn’t make that excuse to His face, maybe it’s not a good excuse.

Now obviously life is life and unavoidable circumstances do come up. We do get sick, we age and aren’t able to go places like we used to. But we will want to. We’ll wish we could. We’ll do what we can before God to be with God’s people as much as we possibly can. And if we don’t, if skipping becomes easy, if every little thing becomes more important, that’s a warning sign. While we are not saved by coming to church, this is a means God uses to help us persevere so that we will be saved in the end. Gathering as a church is one of God’s main tools to help us hold fast.

Why Encouraging Others Matters Too

Hebrews 10 doesn’t stop with “don’t neglect meeting together.” It also says we should be encouraging one another—especially as the Day draws near.

Showing up matters. It is one of the ways we encourage one another. When we show up however, we are looking to do something more than just be in the room. We come to worship God, and to help each other.

Encouragement can look like comfort, correction, truth, or just a word that strengthens someone’s faith. You don’t have to preach a sermon, but you do have a responsibility. I love being a pastor because I have this opportunity every Sunday when I stand up to preach. God’s given me a time dedicated to being an encouragement. When the pastor shows up to preach, he is trying to build you up. But when you show up as a church member, you have a responsibility just like he does. And that responsibility is urgent.

As the Day Draws Near

It’s important you don’t neglect meeting together and seek to encourage one another because we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. Our motives for taking the church seriously, encouraging one another seriously, worship seriously, are eschatological.

That may be what the author of Hebrews is getting at when ends this challenge: the Day is coming. He’s not super explicit, but given how much of the Old Testament is in Hebrews and the fact that the next set of verses is about judgment, it makes sense to me that he’s ending this short section on our responsibilities as a church, by reminding us the Day of the Lord is coming.

God has a plan. History is going somewhere. There’s a day in the future when God is going to completely fulfill His promises and judge His enemies and deal with all the problems sin has created and we know that He is going to do that through His Son Jesus. Jesus is going to come and establish a new creation and we are closer now to that day than we have ever been. And that makes what we are doing as a church so significant. We exist to let the world know what God’s going to do and show them that He can do it. As we get together and worship and love one another we demonstrate to the whole world that God has and can make man new. There is hope. God wants to fix the problems in the world and will through His Son Jesus Christ and we are here to point people to Him. That’s our job. And God’s designed for that to happen by us fulfilling these very simple responsibilities. When we gather and love one another, we show that God can make people new. We live as a counter-cultural community with eternal priorities. And we do that by drawing near to God in worship, holding fast to hope, and helping one another press on—week after week.

So don’t neglect meeting together. Because God is doing something through it. Because we need each other. And because the Day is drawing near.