Why should we worship together?

Why should we worship together? The Bible gives many reasons.

1. Christ commanded it: 1 Corinthians 11:6 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (He assumed that Christians would meet together to take communion.)
2. The writer of Hebrews encouraged us to do this: Hebrews 10:24 Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25 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.
3. Peter assumes that we are part of a body of believers: 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
4. Important things happened in Acts, when the church was together:
Acts 2:1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place;
Acts 6 - the selection of the first deacons was apparently mostly done through a group meeting.
Acts 13:1 Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.”
5. Jesus worshiped in the synagogues regularly, setting us an example.
6. The early church met daily at the Temple.
7. The majority of the books of the New Testament were written to churches (like Revelation), or to groups or categories of people. Most of those addressed to individuals, not churches, were to pastors, giving advice on how to shepherd the churches they were responsible for.

There are, of course, a few people, in extraordinary circumstances, who are unable to worship jointly with other people. But the rest of us should join others frequently for worship. Thanks for reading!

See also "Why I Go to Church."

The Bible and our reaction to authority

 

Every President, Governor, Sheriff, etc., was either put in place by God, or God allowed that person to be in that office.

Respect authority:
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same, 4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. 5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. 7 Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (All Bible quotations from the World English Bible, public domain.)

Ecclesiastes 10:20 Don’t curse the king, no, not in your thoughts; and don’t curse the rich in your bedroom: for a bird of the sky may carry your voice, and that which has wings may tell the matter.

Exodus 22:28 You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
 
Titus 3:1 Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities.

1 Peter 2:13 Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14 or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. . . . 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

In our culture, we have trouble honoring anyone at all. Our humor often doesn’t affirm anyone or anything, but mocks politicians, and all sorts of people. (“Trailer trash,” for example.) The 2nd President Bush was mocked for his sometimes confused sentences, his walk, and his pronunciation. I did some of that, and I shouldn’t have. Cartoons of President Obama (and Presidents before him), often have been designed to do the opposite of honor. He is sometimes called Obummer, or worse things. Some Christians have delightedly passed on these, and other, examples of disrespect through telling jokes, through e-mail, or through social media. But we are supposed to belong to a different culture!

The principle of honoring those in authority goes beyond the President, and extends to other elected officials and public servants, such as TSA, police, teachers, and the DMV.

Must we support all the policies and actions of such people? No. But we should disagree, if we must, in a respectful manner. There are cases of Paul disagreeing, by asserting his rights, in Acts 16:35-39, and also in Acts 22:24-25. Nathan, and other prophets, reprimanded the Old Testament kings, when appropriate.

Praying for those in authority
1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: 2 for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; 4 who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth

The Roman Emperor, at the time Paul wrote this, was probably Nero, who persecuted Christians.

It is true that much of the reason for praying for rulers, in this passage, seems to be so that Christians can live in peace, but it’s also true that we should pray that rulers will believe in Christ as savior, and intercede for them in other matters. Prayer for wisdom for those in authority is also important, and should be part of our prayer life, although the Bible doesn’t explicitly say that.


Thanks for reading! Respect those in office, even if you don't agree with some of their actions.

Christianity and the Presidency

Who gets credit for the Osama Bin Laden's death? Some recent chatter about this has been contrary to the Bible. It has gone beyond saying President Obama was not responsible. I have seen -- more than once -- a comparison of the President to a fast food company's clown. I'm afraid that that is going too far. Disagreeing with a political leader is one thing. Mocking and disrespecting is different. It's unbiblical:

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same, 4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. 5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing. 7 Give therefore to everyone what you owe: taxes to whom taxes are due; customs to whom customs; respect to whom respect; honor to whom honor.

1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: 2 for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence.

1 Peter 2:13 Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14 or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. 15 For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

Remember that the head of the government referred to here was the Roman emperor. Rome had conquered many nations, including the Jewish homeland, and was no special friend to Christianity. It was Roman soldiers who put Christ to death. Roman emperors persecuted Christianity, having Christians killed in various unpleasant ways. (Nero was most likely the emperor during the time when Romans, 1 Timothy and 2 Peter were written.) Nonetheless, Peter and Paul expected that Christians would honor their emperor, and Peter that we would be subject to the authorities, whether Emperor, or lesser officials.

President Obama didn't personally gather the intelligence, plan the mission, or go into Pakistan, and it is possible to say that this objective was achieved in spite of President Obama, not because of him. But even such a claim should still be done with respect for the office, and the person who holds it, as I understand the Bible. I hope to post tomorrow on some related side issues, but my main concern in this post is that I won't violate the Bible's teachings about honoring rulers.

In a subsequent post, I considered some side issues related to this.

Thanks for reading. For more on the subject of Christianity and government, see this previous post. For musings about some apparent failings of the Obama administration, including the attack on the embassy at Benghazi, see here.

What the New Testament says about government, including taxes

Matthew 22:15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Peter 2:13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

(All scripture quoted from the ESV)

So. We should pray for our government, pay taxes, and submit to governmental authority, even honor it. No doubt there may be exceptions -- Paul sometimes stood up to governmental authority, and perhaps there is room to question unjust or excessive taxes -- but generally, we should pray for our government and those in authority, submit to them, honor them, obey the laws, and pay our taxes.

Remember that the government referred to here was the Roman empire, a mostly pagan dictatorship, which had conquered many nations, including the Jewish homeland, and was hardly a friend to Christianity. It was Roman soldiers who put Christ to death.

Thanks for reading.

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Added December 4th, 2008: Another blogger posted on a related statement in the Old Testament, which I then posted about, here (including giving credit to the other blogger).

Added May 5, 2012: I posted a reaction to a number of persons who consider themselves Christians, and they most likely are, who seem to feel free to not only criticize, but mock, current President Obama.