Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

Neal Pollard

This is not a judgment against those of us who have stayed home, especially those vulnerable, for whatever period of time to protect ourselves from legitimate risk of contracting the Coronavirus. It is an attempt to exhort and encourage those of us who have concluded that participating virtually meets what God intends for the assemblies. While we may get to see the church worship and engage in Bible class and receive edification, we are missing quite a bit of what God designed for the church by assembling together.

What can’t we accomplish when we remain in the virtual setting?

• We cannot stimulate one another to either love or good deeds (Heb. 10:24).
• We cannot exhort one another (Heb. 10:25).
• We cannot speak to, teach, or admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19). 
• We cannot come together and edify (1 Cor. 14:26). 
• We cannot welcome visitors from the community who have come to the assemblies.
• We cannot engage in the enriching, faith-building, and faith-preserving fellowship the early church found so essential (Acts 2:42ff). 
• We cannot congregate, as they did (Acts 4:32). 
• We cannot come together and eat the Lord’s Supper, as they did (1 Cor. 11:20,33). 

Let’s not forget the responsibility God puts upon each Christian to all others who assemble. Worship is not just personal and vertical, it is also horizontal.