Off the Hook

“Easter” is less than a week away. This will be an easier year for some folks. Some call them “CEO’s” – Christmas/Easter only. Those are the folk who attend worship at the local Church once or twice a year – yet claim to have a relationship with God that is sufficient for their need.

This year there are precious few Churches where anyone can attend services where God’s people gather to celebrate the Resurrection, because of the current pandemic. Staying home will be easier than ever. They are “off the hook” this year.

Could we remember for a minute that Paul was talking to Believers in Romans 6. It is there that he explains that those who have genuinely come to faith in Christ have died to who they were. They have become an entirely new individual, one who is to experience resurrection power in the same form and manner as the Savior,  and can do so on a regular (read: Sunday to Sunday) basis. There is little question that would change a plethora of things in the life of most, if not all, who practice “CEO.”

There is a lot of talk these days about the non-necessity of the “Church family.” Problem is, that’s just wrong. Believing that one can practice “Christianity” individually, without intimate contact with the “family of God” is a lie that damages and destroys.

The greatest commandment is to llove the Lord God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second greatest commandment is to llove one another even as Christ has lloved us.  To separate those two is to damage our understanding of the very Truth itself, and render one incapable of growing to maturity in The Faith.

Take it or leave it, the gathered Body is a vital place where the Spirit of our Lord does His business of teaching us all things, ministering to our life the peace and comfort of His presence, and empowering us for evangelism and ministry.

That is a “hook” off of which the Believer never gets.