*This post is part of a series of posts emphasizing the importance of the Lord’s Day in the life of the Christian. If you missed part 1, click here to read: The Biblical Basis for the Lord’s Day
It’s been stated that “An empty tomb proves Christianity; an empty church denies it.”
Based on statistics compiled by churchtrac.com, “There has been a significant decline in church attendance since the turn of the 21st century… The chart below made with data from Gallup’s recent survey illustrates the trend”:
(Source: https://www.churchtrac.com/articles/the-state-of-church-attendance-trends-and-statistics-2023)
According to these statistics, 20% of Americans attend church every week, down from 32% in 2000.
This drop in church attendance is not just being seen in America but is also being seen in the United Kingdom and Canada.
While the purpose of this post is not to address the reasons behind the decline of church attendance in the West, it is clear that the rise of secularism and “wokeism” has been a major factor.
As Christians, we are not to allow ourselves to “be…conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). The Christian must be unceasingly vigilant in resisting the world’s encroachments into their life.
As the culture grows increasingly secular, Christians must resist the temptation to become secularized in their thinking and living.
For many people in our culture, they work for the weekend! They can’t wait for Friday to come when they can clock out of the workplace and enjoy the weekend. For most people, Sunday is just a ‘second Saturday’- there is no inclination or thought of giving up their precious time to go to church!
It does not surprise me when unsaved people don’t go to church. Why would they? An unregenerate heart does not delight in the things of God! Church is seen as a burden rather than a blessing. It is viewed as an inconvenience, a bore, and a waste of time.
It is the sign of a regenerate heart to desire (1 Peter 2:2) and delight (Romans 7:22) in the things of God. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
It is a tragedy when the secularization of culture infects the church. One evidence of the infection of secularism amongst Christians is the growing disregard for the Lord’s Day. A growing trend amongst professing Christians is to treat the Lord’s Day as a ‘second Saturday’ to squeeze in hobbies, chores, shopping, sleep, sports often at the expense of church attendance. For too many, church attendance has become a matter of convenience, rather than a matter of conviction.
These disturbing trends are merely symptoms of the infection of secularism in churches across America.
Every Sunday, Christians have a God-given opportunity to devote one day of the week to celebrate the resurrection of the Savior. Christ gave His very life for us, can we not at least set apart one day a week totally devoted to His worship? Christians are commanded to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. That refers to the corporate gathering of saints in the context of the local church for worship, service, edification, and fellowship. A Christian is hindering their spiritual growth and walking in disobedience to their Lord when they neglect assembling with the local church.
Hebrews 10:25- “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
The Lord’s Day (all of it) belongs to the Lord! Christ deserves the first and the best that we can offer which includes giving Him the first day of week set aside for worship and devotion in the context of the local church!
There are 365 days in a year- Can you imagine the spiritual impact in your life and in the life of your family if you devoted 52 of those days totally to worshipping Christ, sitting under the preaching of the Word, and enjoying the spiritual edification of Christian fellowship?
~Pastor Aaron Francis
