"He who separates himself seeks his own desire;
he quarrels against all sound wisdom."
[Proverbs 18:1, NASB]
I am intrigued by the number of modern Christians
who admit that they are not a part of a regularly
assembling body of believers. Being unconnected to a
congregation may sometimes be a short-term necessity,
but the child of God must try never to isolate himself
from Christian community. Seclusion is usually a flight
from accountability to others. This can be spiritualized
of course--with a fond looking back to the holy hermits
of old--but it is really motivated by selfish desire.
An interesting contrast between Prov. 18:1 and Hebrews
10:25 is that the latter exhorts fellowship for the
purpose of stimulating one another to "love and good
deeds," while the former says a repercussion of the
not-so-holy hermitage is that the hermit "quarrels
against all sound wisdom." Assemblers can be touched
by exhortation, hermits often cannot. Assemblers can
hold one another accountable to what they are learning
in The Way, but hermits cannot. Assemblers can edify
one another as iron sharpens iron, but hermits cannot.
For these reasons and many others, believers have
always gathered together for fellowship and communal
worship since the earliest days of the Church. If it
is within the believer's ability he should by all
means assemble with other believers.
- Berean Joe
Tags: Self-seclusion Assembling
