How Should Baptists Approach the Lord’s Day?
The Baptist Tradition
Throughout Christian history, followers of Jesus have physically gathered weekly for corporate worship. Even under the threat of death, faithful Christian men and women believed it necessary to continue meeting to sing unto the Lord, hear the preaching of the scriptures, partake in the Lord’s Supper, and celebrate baptism. Specifically, Baptists have emphasized the Christian obligation to gather with one’s local church. The 1689 London Baptist Confession (LBC) declares, “but God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself; so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor willfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God by his word or providence calls thereunto.”[1] Aside from the 1689 LBC, other Baptist confessions have affirmed gathering on the first day of the week (i.e., the Lord’s Day). The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 states, “The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private.”[2] As one deciphers the core characteristics of the Baptist tradition, it remains clear that a Baptist church that neglects the gathering of believers on the Lord’s Day has drifted outside the bounds of what it means to identify as a Baptist.
Surveys and Indicators
A few months ago, Lifeway Research came out with a survey with results concerning the discussion involving the practice of a weekly gathering on the Lord’s Day. The report states, “In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning in the United States, 58% of Americans said worshipping alone or with one’s family was a valid replacement for regularly attending church, with 26% strongly agreeing. In 2022, 66% believe worshiping apart from a local congregation is as valid as worshiping with one, with 35% strongly agreeing.”[3] The survey additionally found that 54% of evangelicals in 2022 affirmed that worshipping alone is a suitable replacement for local church attendance. Following the 2020 pandemic, Americans have increasingly found it unnecessary to gather with a local church. Even more alarming, most confessing evangelicals find it futile to assemble with Christian brothers and sisters.
Another recent observation suggests that some evangelical, and even Baptist, churches abstained from holding a corporate gathering on Christmas Sunday of 2022. Although Lifeway Research found that 90% of Baptist churches planned to have services on Christmas Sunday, a significant amount of discussion on social media and in the news suggests the consensus does not appear as transparent.[4] For example, The Summit Church in North Carolina opted to encourage their congregation to spend time with family rather than meet on Christmas Sunday. The pastor of The Summit, J.D. Greear, defended the decision by saying, “Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and it ought to be a day you spend with the family of Christ. But I don’t want to be the Pharisees of this generation, where I turn it into some kind of rule that there’s never an exception for.”[5]
A Trend of Neglect
Considering Greear’s influence in the Southern Baptist Convention and the numerous examples of local churches closing for Christmas Sunday, a conversation surrounding biblical ecclesiology needs to occur among Baptist pastors and laypeople. Specifically, this includes deciphering whether or not gathering physically on the Lord’s Day among Baptist churches is mandated by the scriptures and if any exception to that standard is warranted. The decision by Greear and other pastors across the nation to cancel a Sunday service, along with Lifeway’s survey, reflects a trending attitude among many evangelicals today (including Baptists). This attitude communicates that the physical gathering of the local and visible expression of God’s people can take a back seat to other priorities. Whether that priority is Christmas or something else, going to “church” is frequently viewed as merely a symbolic practice for the Christian life. While most evangelicals, or Baptists, affirm that attending a church service can provide positive, pragmatic solutions for one’s life, many would claim that an individual can easily find those same antidotes through other means. The inverse of this perception recognizes that physically gathering with God’s people on the Lord’s Day carries spiritual significance and even necessary nourishment for the Christian’s soul. Hence, abandoning the practice of gathering on Sunday with a local church eliminates a crucial opportunity for the congregation to grow in their love for God and His people. The author of Hebrews makes this clear by saying, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”[6]
Two Qualifiers
Despite my distaste for qualifiers in theological discussions, I must utilize two before wading into deeper waters. Whether Christians should meet on the Lord’s Day (and the legitimacy of exceptions to the rule) is not a matter of orthodoxy. Hence, raising concerns about ecclesiological issues does not indict others as heretics. Although these questions do not relate to beliefs essential to the gospel, they do not negate the matter’s significance. Moreover, within the Baptist tradition, local church autonomy exists as one of its fundamental characteristics. Nevertheless, this has not kept Baptists from speaking into theological disagreements in differing congregations, nor should it hinder modern Baptists from responding to and interacting with decisions made by other Baptist churches.
The Biblical Data
A central tenet of the Baptist tradition relates to the affirmation of the Bible as the supreme authority for all things in faith and practice. Thus, discerning what God says through His word should be the first step in addressing theological questions related to how Baptists understand the necessity of meeting together on the Lord’s Day. Two passages in the New Testament explicitly mention the early church gathering on this particular day. First, in Acts 20:7, Luke says, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.” Though this passage does not appear as a command, it provides Christians today with a description of the early church meeting on Sunday (i.e., the day Christ rose from the dead). Second, in 1 Corinthians 16:1–2, Paul commands the believers in Corinth, “Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” Based on these two passages, early Christians recognized a particular spiritual significance regarding the first day of the week. Just as Christ resurrected from the dead on Sunday, so should His people gather to celebrate His victory over death and sin on the “Lord’s Day.”
Christian Witness
The Didache (written in the late first or early second century) indicates the importance of gathering on the Lord’s Day in early Christian history. Chapter 14 of this work states, “But every Lord’s day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations.”[7] Though these words do not carry the same authority as the scriptures, they provide more evidence of the early Christian expectation and mandate of gathering on Sunday with the local church.
Final Conclusions
The biblical and historical data provided above should lead Baptists to affirm two premises: (1) If one is to remain consistent with God’s word, Christian witness, and Baptist tradition, gathering with the local church on Sunday is essential. (2) Any exception to that command should be utilized only in rare and extreme occurrences whereby simply gathering could put the congregants in unnecessary harm. Such examples might include natural disasters or other emergencies, yet the local church should gather each Sunday in almost every other instance. Eliminating the Sunday gathering robs God’s people of receiving the spiritual edification and nourishment necessary for the Christian life. More detrimental is that God is robbed of the proper worship and honor He is due. One possible solution some individuals have offered in defense of churches canceling Christmas Sunday services argues that holding a Christmas Eve service can replace the Christmas Day service. This argument misses one key point: evangelical churches generally have Christmas Eve services each year. Therefore, in this instance, eliminating the Christmas Day service is not replaced by the Christmas Eve service. Instead, Christmas Sunday worship does not occur while the Christmas Eve service tradition continues. Thus, congregants have one less opportunity to gather than usual.
If Baptists desire to follow the scripture’s teaching, Christian witness, and Baptist tradition as it relates to the Lord’s Day, conforming the worship gathering (or eliminating it) to the pragmatic needs of the staff or members should not occur. Outside of an emergency or natural disaster, determining not to gather on the Lord’s Day communicates a view that understands corporate worship as something other than necessary to the Christian life. It also reflects a perspective that believes the worship service exists to conform to the consumeristic desires and wishes of the congregation. If Baptists wish to communicate proper ecclesiology, then canceling the Sunday gathering should only occur in extreme circumstances. Canceling for the sake of celebrating a holiday does not fall under that standard. As the 1689 LBC states, “God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself; so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor willfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God by his word or providence calls thereunto.” May Baptists return to a robust ecclesiology that views the local church gathering as essential to a healthy Christian life.
[1] emphasis mine; 1689 LBC Ch. 22, Paragraph 6
[2] https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#viii
[3] https://research.lifeway.com/2022/09/19/americans-theological-beliefs-changed-to-suit-post-pandemic-practice/?carid=520244e4-3a66-4a21-821d-ff8f1cf613f1&profile=lifeway+research&network=facebook.
[4] https://research.lifeway.com/2022/12/13/most-churches-plan-to-open-on-christmas-and-new-years-day/.
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/18/us/christmas-church-service-protestants.html.
[6] Hebrews 10:23–25
