A. W. Pink years ago wrote an article about church
attendance, suggesting that it would be better to stay home and simply read the
Bible with your family than to attend a professing Christian church where
the gospel is not preached.
While it is true that to sit under a ministry that does
not believe the Bible to be the Word of God and does not preach Christ is not
spiritually productive, but is
counter-productive, still Pink was only half right. It is
not best or even right to attend a liberal church, where the preaching is
foolishness and worldly, rather than biblical and Christ-honoring. But his
teaching on this has done much damage to many believers in giving them an
excuse to not even be in a church.
Today most believers are not in an
isolated situation geographically. And Pink wasn't either. Even
though he lived in the remote Hebrides Islands of Scotland, there was a vibrant
and solidly biblical ministry right in his town, with which he
refused to identify.
Pink was wrong in his views and choice, as he
led he and his wife to not be in any church for around seven years, while
living in Stonoway, Scotland. They stayed home on Sundays, even
though the fragrant and wonderful ministry of Kenneth Macrae was occurring
right in town. Anyone who has read the Diary of Kenneth Macrae,
published by the Banner of Truth, knows the evident rich ministry that Macrae
exercised for years in Stornoway.
Yet Pink refused to worship there, and even refused to
make time to meet Macrae, even though both of them were well-known ministers
and solid in the doctrinal truths of the evangelical faith. Nothing
satisfied Pink during this time, it seems, even though there were balanced and
earnest ministries being exercised all over Scotland and other places.
Instead, Pink stayed home on Sundays and read the Bible.
Is this right at all? Can it be justified? Yes and No.
Yes, IF (and only if) a person
is living so far from any evangelical church that travel to such church is
literally impossible. Their circumstances are such that, while they want to be
in church, they have no ability at all to be there, either physically or
geographically. In such cases--an isolated
missionary or a farmer or rancher who lives 140 miles from any
evangelical church--such cases would allow for staying home and listen to an
online sermon, reading a sermon out loud to the family, conducting worship for
you and the family, and inviting neighbors to come. Isn't such a situation the
perfect setting for a house church? If there is no church, start one. What
constitutes a church? Two things--the presence of Christ and the presence of
Christians. That's it. Nothing else is needed to begin.
Yes, it is all right to stay home and read your
Bible IF (and only if) a person is a missionary in a state or
nation where Christianity is illegal and their attending a public place of
worship will jeopardize the lives of other believers they minister to. There
are situations where it is ill-advised for a missionary to gather with the
locals in worship.
But the second part of the question remains to be
answered. Is it all right to just stay home on Sundays?
NO--not if you have an evangelical church that is
accessible at all to you, even if it is 100 miles away. There is no excuse for
not driving to a church, even if it is a real drive each Sunday.
I personally know believers that have made the choice to drive 2 1/2 hours
one way every Sunday because they want to worship with God's people, hear the
Scriptures preached, and have true fellowship with the saints. Distance is not
an excuse, if they can get there. They go, they stay the entire day, they come
home in the evening. They don't let fuel expense be an excuse. They
make it a priority. Why? Because identifying with God's people in corporate
worship and witness is not optional for them. They need a true church
for their spiritual survival because it is vitally important and
biblical.
Pink was wrong in his choice to not worship at Macrae's
church. The tragedy is that lots of people today have used Pink's example and
teaching about "better to stay home" as their excuse to not drive
across town or to the next town to be in a biblical church. So they stay
home, with their attitude of superiority and in isolation, while their
family is lonely and spiritually drying up because they don't need God's
people. They only need themselves.
What is wise and best and biblical? Find a biblical
church, the best one you can find, even if one has to drive a
distance. There is no excuse if we want to be a biblical Christian.
Above I stated, "Stay home, rather
than attending a bad, liberal church." But don't just stay home.
Find a biblical church, even if it means moving or driving four hours
each Lord's Day. A two hour drive on Sunday morning to be with a bibical
church all day is well worth the drive home after a full day or
worship and true fellowship. You then have given your full day to Christ
and His people.
So if you live on one of the Fiji islands, and the
nearest church is a six hour boat ride, then you have liberty to stay home and
read your Bible. But if not, get to a church, a biblical church, whatever it
may cost you. God will honor that choice.
- Mack Tomlinson
