Hebrews 10:25 instructs us:
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”
The context for the original recipients of that was that they were under severe persecution. To gather as God’s redeemed in Christ carried the real danger of death. It’s obviously much different for us.
Here’s another piece of context for you from the preceding verses:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works...”
One gets the sense that we might—gasp—actually need each other.
Some of the things God uses to grow us up in faith and godliness are
the word of his grace (Acts 20.32)
the Spirit of grace (Heb.10.29)
prayer made to the throne of grace (Heb.4.6)
time spent with the people of grace (Eph.4.7, 1 Peter 4.10).
For many Christians, “meeting together” simply means going to church for an hour each week. Please hear me: that’s a very good thing. But as a Christian matures, he or she realizes it’s certainly not enough. Integration and accountability come when we accumulate time spent together.
Might I suggest:
1) a Grace Group – the recipe couldn’t be simpler. A few couples meet once per month (with summers off) to discuss spiritual things and eat food. Tammy and I love ours.
2) Coffee with that old friend of yours. My friend Tim and I have met once a week for many, many years. No agenda. No book. Just us, talking about our lives.
Those are painless, actually enjoyable, ways to integrate with other believers in a deeper way. It ain’t magic, and doesn’t look like much on paper, but over time—with faithfulness—closeness, warmth, and accountability emerges. I can vouch for it.
