Enough
“‘Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.’”
Today’s Text: Joshua 24:14-24 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Learning to “fear the LORD and serve Him with all faithfulness” has been God’s program for my life. That is God’s program for all of our lives. We all have a tendency to apply Joshua’s exhortation according to our own terms.
The terms of some are quite restrictive—no secular music, no secular entertainment, no drinking, period, etc. The terms of others are quite unrestricted—do whatever your heart desires, because we are all sinners anyway, and only the blood of Christ saves us.
Both extremes are extremely—and obviously—wrong. At least I hope it is obvious to us.
The real challenge for our understanding and practice happens more towards the middle, though. And that question of fearing and serving the LORD “with all faithfulness” comes to a head especially with regard to our engagement with church. And so the question arises in our hearts and minds: How much is enough, or how much is too much?
And that question will arise when our engagement with church comes into conflict with our engagement in other things. On the one hand, those “other things” might be generally considered trivial by many or most people: bingeing on streaming media, going out on a Friday to party with friends or coworkers, watching the NFL on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, or Saturday such that it conflicts with a church event, and so on.
On the other hand, those “other things” might be what many or most people consider to be good things: participating in children’s sports or other developmental activities for children, education, work events that might advance one’s career, and so on.
For my part, ever since I became saved, I have understood that engagement in church is important for our walk of faith. In fact, it was my joy. As I grew in my understanding, I have learned that the church is indeed at the center of God’s great plan of salvation for the world, until Jesus returns. And when Jesus returns, the church will be the only “institution” of this world that will survive.
And (excuse the theology, here) but we could say that “marriage” as an institution will also survive. But the Bible tells us that the only “marriage” that will survive is the marriage between Christ and His church—again, pointing to the significance and importance of the church.
So now, as a pastor with theological training under my belt (from the word of God more than from seminary), it has become my firm conviction that the church is indeed the most important “institution” of our lives. And I believe that is from the Holy Spirit.
In fact, I even said so explicitly in one sermon on one Sunday soon after I became the pastor here. Can you imagine the looks of shock and disbelief and indignation that I saw after saying that? One person even said to me after that, “Pastor Sang, I get what you’re saying, but I just can’t.” Which is to say, they didn’t really quite get what I was saying.
But at the same time, maybe I was wrong for actually saying it. Because, although I hold onto the conviction that it is true, for some, if not many, it was just too much for them to bear.
And so, the challenge for me always is: how do I communicate that truth in love and in the appropriate measure so that those who hear can really “get it”?
When it comes to our engagement in church, the question we might want to consider is the following: If there is some non-church event that is coming up, and I have the flexibility to schedule it as I please, would I even consider if it might conflict with a church event?
On the other hand, I also “get” that there may be some church events that may not be absolutely necessary. Generally speaking, though, Sunday service is not one of them. And according to the vision God has given us, Friday house church is not one of them either. Generally speaking too, our prayer meetings ought to rank high on the “need to attend” meter. Bible studies ought to rank high on the “need to attend” meter.
Not simply for what we might get out of it, but primarily for how it might encourage others to worship the LORD.
In any given healthy church, there will be broad spectrum of those who think we are not doing enough as a church and those who think we are doing too much.
For both ends of the spectrum, it would worth considering that, as far as the Bible presents it, “church” will be the primary thing, if not the only thing, we will be doing after Jesus’s millennial reign here on the earth (Revelation 20-22). Would we be OK with “doing” church then? And what might that look like, I wonder?
In 2026, my hope and prayer is that we would all grow together in understanding and practicing what it truly means to “be the church” of Jesus Christ.
Father, You are sovereign over the universe, all life, all things, and Your church, for sure. You have entrusted Your church to sinful people redeemed by the blood of Christ. Even if we might make a mess of it or misunderstand what it means to “be the church,” we are in Your hands. Make us a true church, Lord. Forgive us when we don’t love and respect one another as we should. But make our obedience to You and our devotion to Your church be our greatest joy. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
