Hebrews 10:25 (KJV) says, “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 other day, someone asked me if a digital church was biblical. Then he quoted Hebrews 10:25 and stated that this verse shows that Christians are commanded to meet in person. This is an understandable question and statement. It is easy to translate scripture based on our experiences. Most of us have grown up witnessing the assembly of believers within the physical walls of the church.
Which is right – gathering in person or gathering online?
In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well. The conversation is long but at one point, the woman asks this question: “So tell me this: Why do our fathers worship God here on this nearby mountain, but your people teach that Jerusalem is the place where we must worship. Which is right?”
Jesus responded, “Believe me, dear woman, the time has come when you will worship the Father neither on a mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in your heart…From here on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in Truth” (John 4: 21-24).
Jesus teaches us, it is not the place that matters. It is the heart of sincere worshipers the Father is after.
So wherever you worship- in-person or online, do it with a sincere and surrendered heart.
Hebrews 10:25
This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing. In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.
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