John Calvin commented on the problem of Christians giving up on meeting together (Hebrews 10:25), as they have done from the beginning until now, and we all know churches and maybe even our own friends and family who have done such a thing, he said,
“There is so much peevishness in almost everyone, that individuals, if they could, would gladly make their own churches for themselves…This warning is therefore more than needed by all of us that we should be encouraged to love rather than hate and that we should not separate ourselves from those…who are joined to us by a common faith.”
For some people, if they don’t like something or someone, they leave the church. This is individualism trumping the gospel; a decision that is often devoid of gospel content, and never borne out of the agony of prayer. When was the last time we heard of someone leaving a church because of heresy? How many people leave because they were hurt and refused the medicine of the gospel to bring healing and reconciliation? The priority is rarely the Gospel-of-Christ and almost always the ridiculous parody of the gospel-of-self. Scripture warns us most clearly in Hebrews 10:25 and elsewhere to be alert to this. This is evidence of secularism in the church. And it must not be.
The Church is a Gospel people and we do things the Gospel way. Any other way is a dead end.
On a lighter note, I thought “peevishness” is a much under-used word today.
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