Page 38 - Digital Church in a Lonely World

FORSAKE NO T THE ASSEMBLING

On the ChurchPulse Weekly podcast, pastor Timothy Keller said, “We have bodies and we need to be
in the presence of each other. Online doesn’t replace in-person services.”

We cannot have a discussion about in-person church in the digital age without addressing Hebrews
10:25. I don’t think that Hebrews 10:25 is a proof text that can be used to exclude online models. A
case could be made that the “assembling together” can happen online or through a hybrid approach. I
personally think it carries a certain energy that prods us toward real community as an act of faithfulness
to Christ and for the encouragement of others.

Let’s take a look:

HEBREWS 10:25 (NKJV)
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not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one
another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

Not gathering or assembling was also trending in first-century Christianity, so much so that it was

labeled a habit—a bad habit. Just because something is a trend does not make it right. The author of

Hebrews urges us toward each other when times get harder.

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The Greek word for “forsake” is emotive and compelling. In fact, it is the same word that Jesus used
on the cross when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It captures a sense
of loss and abandonment. We are being told that we are literally abandoning a part of our Christian
responsibility when we turn our backs on meeting together.

Furthermore, the word assembling (“meet together” in the ESV) is only used one other time in the New
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Testament. And again, it is strong language. It describes a binding together. It is more than a social
moment in the weekly calendar.

Not gathering or assembling

was also trending in first-century
Christianity, so much so that it was
labeled as a habit—a bad habit.
Just because something is a trend
does not make it right.

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