May 19, 2026
Tuesday, May 19
There is a sanctified stubbornness that keeps us from quitting when life gets hard, or from going with the crowd when they’re headed for destruction. The Bible calls this endurance and steadfastness, but for our current series, I’m using the word grit. One of the reasons we need holy grit is because it’s so much easier to drop out of church than it is to truly be a part of the Body of Christ. As Hebrews 10:19-24 puts it:
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24And 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.
Notice the way that passage ends: “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some…” Even in the first century, some people were dropping out of church. By the way, this book of the Bible is called Hebrews because the primary audience was Jewish Christians. Why were Jewish Christians dropping out of church in the First Century? As Jews, they already knew what it was like to be an ostracized minority in the Roman world. But when they came to Jesus, even many of their fellow Jews rejected them. They were seen as traitors to their race. Some surely looked at them the way you and I look at crazy cult members. Many, we can be sure, were disowned by their own families. Some surely lost jobs over their conversion.
Under such pressure, it would be tempting to say, “If I don’t publicly identify myself with Jesus by attending Sunday worship, perhaps my life will get easier again.”
Today—as I’m sure you know--church attendance in America is declining rapidly too. The reasons for this vary: Some cite hurtful experiences in church. Some have been taught a warped version of Christianity, and are right to reject it—they just haven’t embraced the true version yet. And plenty are simply distracted. They never intended to leave the Church. But life got busy because of work, kids’ sports, or poor health, and they’ve never come back.
These aren’t bad people. They are people the Lord loves, and we should love them too. Some of them are close friends that I deeply love. But the command of v. 25 still applies to us today: Don’t stop gathering together in the name of Jesus, even though that’s the habit of some. Why? Because we were saved to be part of the Body of Christ. If we’re not functioning as part of the Body of Christ, we’re not truly following Him, and our earthly lives will suffer as a result.
How can we build grit in ourselves, so that when we’re disappointed in our fellow believers (and we will be) or when life gets crazy and Sunday morning worship seems like the easiest obligation to drop (and that will happen too), we stick with God and His family? How can we build that kind of grit in younger generations growing up in our churches right now? And how can we reach out to those we’ve lost? Those are the questions we’ll explore for the remainder of this week.
“Lord Jesus, I know the Church matters. In your Word, you call it both your Bride and your Body. Forgive us for not prioritizing it. Help us to value the Church as you do, and please show us how to bring back those who’ve wandered, and hold onto those you’ve given us. In your name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
