We all have busy Summers. Myself included. And we all miss church some Sundays because of it. Myself included. Whether because of sports, vacation, staying up too late, not getting up in time, being overworked and overtired, etc. we will and we do miss church. 

Many of these may be good things and good reasons. I’m not considering their merit. What I’m considering is what I mean — what we mean — by “missing church”?

“Church” is more than a meeting you make. It’s an encounter you can’t miss. Why? How? Because the church is a living organism. The living body of Christ. The life of Christ flows to you because you’re a part of His body in fellowship, not because you attend an event. 

At heart Jesus has promised to dwell in the midst of His people, not an event. He has promised to never leave nor forsake His people, not a meeting. 

Dear Elim Grace, you are a branch in the Vine (John 15) in the same way that you are a member in the Body. By the power of the Spirit you are grafted into the Vine and baptized into the Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). You can survive neither as a branch nor as a member if you remain independent of the source of life. The life of Jesus flows through the Spirit to the branches in the Vine and to the members in the Body. Your location matters. 

But your connections also matter. 

Around 50 times in the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles command us to feel, say, or do something to “one another.” We are to care for one another and bear with one another, honor one another and sing to one another, do good to one another and forgive one another. And then there is the grand, overarching, most-repeated one-another that “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14): “Love one another.” None of this can happen if you are not connected to “one another. To the rest of the body. To the people of God.

As disciples of Jesus, what do we mean when we say those two words: missing church. When we tell our children, “We’re missing church today,” what do we want them to understand? When we tell our spouse. When we tell a friend or a stranger. What do we mean?

I’m convinced we encounter and know Jesus in and through His people in a way like no other. In a way we can’t live, grow, be healthy and bear fruit without. So when we miss church, we’re missing more than just a meeting. And when we come to church, we’re coming to something that is so much more than a meeting.