Is Church A Priority?

My brother Zach asked the following question on Facebook today: "Is church important to you? More important than sports practices, or birthday dinners, or anything else for that matter? Why not?" Here is my response:

I'm not sure how intentional it was on your behalf but the way you frame this question is inadequate because church is not a mere event such as a birthday dinner or practice session for a sports team. Church is a people, so if the question is whether that people is more important to me than events centered on affinity then I must say yes for people are always greater than tasks. People are the reason for many Christian tasks (lest we should forget the second greatest commandment on which all the law and prophets hang).

However, if you mean church as a worship service then an absolute answer of yes or no is not available. As previously stated, people are more important than tasks. While worship is our highest order as human beings worship is not confined to the common liturgy found within the local congregation on Sunday mornings. While that liturgy demands great respect and loyalty we must also consider the notion that celebrating life is worship as well. So a morning birthday party may very well be a suitable substitute on a Sunday morning (but who celebrates a birthday in the morning) from time to time. Practicing for the next football game is less likely to be a suitable substitute though for it seeks to please the individual and not praise and thank God for all his blessings (but do not think that impressive physical activity is not also a form of worship and good stewardship).

Church is important for the Christian. I've written a few times about the connection between being Christian and being Church and how our identity is formed by being a part of the Body of Christ. If we partake of the eucharist and baptism the we proclaim that Church is not only important but a necessity for those who wish to live as God desires. Worship services are also important for they empower us to continue living the Christian life. Justin ("the Martyr") said that "we gather to scatter", that is to say we can not scatter if we do not gather. Without the Sunday ritual the individual is incapable of being the Church and if that is the case then the Church crumbles little by little when saints neglect that special communion. Without unified worship the Church is not breathing, for what is her exhaling but praises and thanksgiving? What is her inhaling but reading the scriptures and having open ears in prayer? How can the Church live without the nourishment of the eucharist? How can she reproduce without the baptism? How can we live without Christ? We can not. We rely on the body of Christ and thus we rely on the Church. We rely on worship. We rely on these things in part as we rely on God fully. It is through Church and worship that we most deeply draw near to God (for both are based on divine love).

If this is all true, then how could sporting events or mere social activities take place of Sunday worship or the Body of Christ known as the Church? Of course the Church is not bound to interaction on Sunday morning and thus there is room for legalism to die and for us to worship in true freedom.