What About Wednesday Night?

There were four simple words in a recent sermon request:

“What about Wednesday night?”

These four words are backed by simple observation as well as hard data. On average (since attendance began to be recorded electronically in 2019) our Sunday morning worship service has about 70.5 people in attendance, while Wednesday night bible study averages about 55. Even with the main “COVID” years excluded (2020, 2021), this disparity of about 15-16 people remains between the two services (67 to 51 in 2022, 66 to 50 in 2023). While it is true that visitors are counted among those present in each services, it is not true that each Sunday morning worship service has 15-16 visitors that do not return on Wednesday night. Simply put, not as many of us (the members of the Jamestown congregation) attend Wednesday night bible class as often as we do Sunday morning worship. This undoubtedly is the observation that provoked the above question, and it is a good question to consider.

One need not wait to be stung to recognize when they are approaching a wasp’s nest, and broaching the subject of Wednesday night attendance is like unto this. It is neither possible nor helpful to delineate every possible reason (and excuse) for a member to not attend Wednesday night bible study, nor will I claim to stand as judge over the righteousness of said decisions. Obviously, some reasons are better than others, ranging from the completely understandable to the spiritually deplorable.

So, back to the question: “What about Wednesday night?” Here’s a couple of good reasons:

1. Pastoral Oversight

The elders of the Jamestown church of Christ have determined that meeting on Wednesday night to study the Bible, sing, and pray, is needful & beneficial for our spiritual lives.

Go back and read that line again, and let it sink in.

Bob, Corey, Julian, and Mark (Listed in alphabetical, and not rank order, as such does not exist) are our elders, our shepherds.

These men bear the burden of leading this flock in accordance with the scriptures (Acts 20.28; cf. 1 Tim. 3.1-7; Titus 1.5-9). The Hebrew writer gives us a clear command regarding their leadership: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” (Heb. 13.17 NASB). This does not mean that shepherds have unbridled power to legislate anything they choose for their flock, as they are still bound by the scriptures themselves. It does mean that they have authority to direct we sheep in the way we should go, both individually and congregationally.

The Chief Shepherd, Jesus (1 Peter 5.1-4) has left shepherds to oversee His flock within their congregations. Their work is to be exemplary, voluntarily, and one of “exercising oversight” (ibid.) Humility as a sheep within this flock means I go where the shepherds lead. Case in point: On multiple occasions the elders have approached me with a subject that according to their judgment should be addressed as a sermon. As far as I know, I have not turned down any of these requests, and the reasoning is simple: They are my shepherds. They oversee the flock, not me. If the sermon request is consistent with the scriptures (as they have been), then I will teach on that subject. That’s how being a sheep works:
We must let someone else hold the staff and do the directing! Truth be told we sheep sometimes confuse ourselves with shepherds and engage in a little “self-leading” instead of humbly being led.

If our elders have determined that we should come together with our fellow members to be edified, encouraged, and fed spiritually on Wednesday nights, what scriptural right do we have to refuse?

2. Spiritual Health

Wednesday night attendance is an opportunity to be taught, encouraged, convicted, and even rebuked.

A refusal (not an inability, to be clear) to assemble with the saints shows that our priorities have become out of order. We Christians are instructed to seek the Kingdom first (Matt. 6.33), and when we allow non-Kingdom activities to prevent our gathering with fellow citizens, it demonstrates an un-Christlike understanding of what is important. Ephesians 4.16 describes the body not merely as a pile of useful parts, but one that has been “joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped” (ESV). We as members of this body must be JOINED together to accomplish our work and maintain our spiritual health. We would consult a cardiologist if our heart was determined to beat only once for every three times it was stimulated by the brain, and yet we are content with this in our attendance?

On this note, one might ask: “What are we choosing to do other than attend on Wednesday night?” Is it as beneficial to your soul as time spent in the word, in prayer, in song with your brethren? If so, what’s stopping ALL of us from participating in whatever that thing is? Would you feel comfortable having the congregation over to do whatever you’ve chosen to do besides gather with the saints for bible study? The only ones who benefit from bible study, singing, and praying together are those assembled to do those things. We don’t get credit as individuals for what our brethren do if we choose not to participate.

Regarding the need to attend for our spiritual health, Roy Cogdill put it this way:
“In these services, through study and instruction, and the worship ordained of God, we receive admonition and exhortation, and therefore strength. No member of the church can be the strong Christian that he should be without attending every service possible. It is entirely impossible for us to be Christians that we must be in order to please God, and grow as we should, if we habitually miss the services held for the very purpose of helping us. Neither is it possible for us to please God, and grow as we should, by merely attending on Sunday morning. Sunday morning Christianity is half-hearted Christianity, and the person who has it needs a whole-hearted conversion to the Lord.”[1]

Conclusion:

If there was something to be gained by attending Wednesday night services more valuable in worldly terms than spiritual edification, I daresay many would find a way to be there. Luther Blackmon (1907-1977) once put it this way in a short article:

“Have you ever tried to picture in your mind what would happen if some eccentric multi-millionaire philanthropist should announce in the local paper that one night during one of our meetings (he would say which night) he would give each person present one thousand dollars? Well, I have. And in fancy's vision I see a strange and motley crowd.

The rich and the poor, the fat and the frail, Republicans and Democrats, scoffers and cynics, "God-is dead-ers," segregationists and integrationists, the famous and the infamous. People who haven't spoken to each other for years would sit side by side if necessary. The once-a-weekers and onceIn-a-whilers would be there. Grandpa would rub his "rhumatiz" leg with some goose grease and turpentine, and he would be there… all the backsliders would suddenly warm up and suddenly take their place up where they could be seen.

All the puny excuses and anemic alibis and other kinds of lies we have been telling ourselves and others about why we didn't attend worship would disappear like dirt before "intensified Tide" or roaches before "Raid." We would have crowds that would make a democratic convention look like a country picnic that is, until the money was passed out. We would look for a slump after that. What kind of "Christian" would do for money what he will not do for the sake of his soul?”

What kind, indeed?

So, what about Wednesday night? -K.S.

[1] Roy Cogdill, “Attendance” Truth Magazine, XVIII:27, p. 11 May 9, 1974