Is this what Heb. 10:24-25 is talking about?

Hebrews 10:25 is a famous verse. Most of us have it memorized, or at least the phrase “don’t forsake the assembling of ourselves together. However, I suspect the way that verse is commonly used is not really what the writer of Hebrews was trying to communicate.

For most of my Christian life this verse was taken to mean, “you must go to church.” At one point in my formal ministry life I even had my leader tell me, “Any time the doors of the church are open you are expected to be there unless you are traveling for ministry. That’s because the Bible says we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” And, it was made clear if he ever found out that the church had a meeting, and I wasn’t there, I would be disciplined.

Really? Is that what that verse is talking about? Was the writer of Hebrews really suggesting that any time the congregation meets we are supposed to be there? Does it really make sense to turn this into a legalism about congregating formally? I don’t think so. Frankly, I think this verse is really much more powerful when understood in its context (historical and textual).

The Historical Context

The Epistle to the Hebrews was probably written in AD 63 or 64. What was the Church like then? Keep in mind that this was just 30+ years after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The Church had no formal congregational leadership, in didn’t even meet in congregations, the way we think of them. The Church was just a loose relationally based network of people. They knew other Christians who knew other Christians. They did tend to meet. Just like college kids who know each other tend to ‘hang out’ together. And, sometimes, they did this in a scheduled way. In fact, it was common to meet on the first day of the week to commemorate the resurrection. But that wasn’t a rule, just a tendency. However, Christianity wasn’t conceived by these people as a series of formal meetings, in a house or anywhere else. It was a covenantal life with Jesus and a deep communal, relational life with others who knew Jesus. Oh, and by the way, lets get together on Sunday, but I’ll probably see you sooner. These people tended to be passionate about Jesus and wanted to spread His Kingdom. In fact, it was common for them to be highly focused on those types of issues. Meeting together in a planned way wasn’t high on their priority list.

Textual Context

This verse should be read at least as a whole sentence. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. This is given in the context of continuing to encourage each other to be doing good deeds, but, in doing so, don’t give up meeting together.

I think with these two contexts in mind it is better to understand the passage more like this. Hey guys, it is great you are out turning the world upside down for Jesus, keep up the good work. However, some of you are so intent on doing good deeds for Jesus that you are in danger of drying up spiritually. You need each other, if nothing more, for the encouragement. Don’t stop meeting together, it isn’t good for your soul.

We have strayed so far from this ambiance that we can’t even really conceive to what the writer was getting at. We see Christianity as a series of formal meetings. That was never the intention. We certainly do need to be encouraged toward love and good deeds, because so few Christians nowadays are doing much along these lines at all. We tend to get together quite regularly, but it is just to hear a lecture and see a show (or if house church Christians, to have a nice little meeting in a house). It doesn’t prepare us to be thrust back out into the harvest. We usually don’t even bother to try. Our souls are in danger of drying up, but not for lack of being with other Christians; it’s for lack of really living Christianity as it was designed by God. I think John was right when he told the Ephesians, “You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first (Rev. 2:4-5).”

  • Why do you think Christianity is so different than it was in the first centuries?
  • Have the changes from what we used to be to what we have become made us more effective for God’s purposes?
  • Church is much more complicated, formal and structured that it was at first. Has that made it more spiritual?
  • What would happen if we went back to the way things were at first? Would you enjoy that or hate it? Would it be easier to spread the Kingdom or harder?
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