Do you realize that the church witnesses to the world simply by withdrawing from it each Lord’s Day and gathering together in worship? God calls the Sabbath Day a sign in the Scriptures, for it sanctifies or sets apart God’s people from the world (Ex. 31:12-13). Indeed, the Lord’s Day is a reminder to the world that Jesus will return and make a final separation between the righteous and the wicked. When the church does not gather, it loses this major aspect of its gospel witness.

The saga of Pastor James Coates, the Canadian pastor who was arrested in Alberta for holding church services last month despite COVID restrictions imposed by the government, continues. Though it was reported he would be released last week, more recent news seems to indicate otherwise. So as millions watch mask-less basketball players body up, sweat, and breathe all over one another during March Madness, the danger of a church meeting for worship must still be too great for the civil authorities to handle.

This situation reminds us of the importance not only of praying for Pastor Coates’ release, but for the church to gather physically for worship. Many shepherds of God’s flock are noticing that though the Lord has mercifully lowered the death rate, is bringing warmer weather that lowers transmission rates, and provides vaccinations to many, a good number of the sheep are not returning to worship services. The ease of online worship, combined with ongoing fears, can make it difficult for people to see the need to return.

In addition to providing public worship services with protocol appropriate to their setting, the elders of the church need to keep teaching and reminding their people that online worship is an incomplete experience of worship for the people of God. As we discussed on a podcast episode and as this article points out, online worship is like worship in exile. One obviously benefits from virtual services in hearing God’s Word or the pastor praying, but this type of worship falls short of God’s expressed desire for His people. I offer eight brief reasons why online worship is imperfect, in the hopes that those reading this post will be spurred on to return to the house of God.

The church by definition is an assembly. The word for church from the Greek is a word that means “assembly”, based on the concept of a congregation being those called out of the world by the gospel into the kingdom of God. Likewise, the synagogue, which the early church was formed out of as the gospel swept through the Jewish people (Acts 9:20; 13:5), also means “assembly” or the “ones brought together” by faith in the Lord. When God’s people do not assemble, they are scattered all about like the Duplo blocks on our living room floor our grandchildren played with this weekend. Lots of shapes, sizes, and colors, but nothing definitive.

The church is to function as the temple of God and offer spiritual sacrifices together. Throughout the New Testament the apostles refer to the church as the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Pet. 2:4-5) and its people as God’s priests (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:5-6). As such, people are not only to serve the Lord as individuals but together with one another. When the church is wholly or even partially online, so much of the ability for people to communicate and cooperate in sacrifice and service is diminished.

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