ARE YOU AN S.M.O. CHRISTIAN?
What does this mean? Is it a new denomination? No, it’s a description of a certain group of Christians, very widespread today. It means Sunday Morning Only. “Sunday morning only” Christians attend a meeting only on Sunday mornings and are absent from the others: the gospel meeting, prayer meeting and Bible study. Numbers in attendance are high on Sunday morning, but sadly low at all the other meetings.
This is not biblical behavior, for Acts 2:42 describes the conduct of the early Christians: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Not occasionally, but rather, they “continued steadfastly.” The Common English Bible translates, “The believers devoted themselves.” In the Amplified Bible we read, “They were continually and faithfully devoting themselves.” No one meeting was considered more important than the others.
In our experience we have seen many Roman Catholics who think that if they attend Mass, they have “checked that box,” in other words, they’ve fulfilled their obligation to God. They are perhaps the champions of “S.M.O.” But this same attitude is now evident among evangelicals, to whom Sunday morning is the main meeting, and the really important one. Some meeting places are nearly full on Sunday morning, and nearly empty for the other meetings. S.M.O.s are absent on Sunday afternoons at the gospel preaching meeting. They don’t attend the weekday prayer and Bible study meeting. Apparently, they think these meetings are optional. They’re apparently otherwise occupied, and don’t have time for fellowship with others at these meetings.
However, reception into the fellowship of a church includes all its activities. As Norman Crawford aptly commented, reception is not to the breaking of bread, but to the assembly. It involves much more than the Lord’s Supper. It indicates acceptance and inclusion in all facets of church life, its doctrine, and witness. Someone said that reception is mutual. The local church receives the person, and the person receives the church, indicating that he accepts and agrees with its teachings and practice. Otherwise, there should be no reception.
Do the math. If the church meets every Sunday morning, that’s 52 meetings a year. If they meet again on Sunday afternoon, that’s another 52 meetings a year. In addition, if there’s a midweek meeting for prayer and Bible study, which is also 52 times a year. In all that’s 156 meetings a year, according to this example. But Christians who only attend only on Sunday mornings miss 104 meetings a year. They’re absent from two-thirds of the meetings. They don’t come to support the gospel meeting, nor to pray, nor to study the Word, and on all those occasions they miss fellowship with others. Honestly, how can such people be considered to be truly in fellowship with the church, since they do not have time for it? They want to take the Lord’s Supper, but don’t want to commit to the assembly.
Furthermore, we must remember that the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to put God first in our lives. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). “First” indicates preference and priority. How important are church activities to us? Work, visits from friends, and family activitites should not take precedence over them. We have a previous commitment.
Consider the Lord's testimony in Luke 4:16, “... as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day.” His custom and priority was to meet with God's people in the designated place. He did not have to decide each time whether or not to meet, because that decision had already been made. If there was a gathering of God's people, one knew where to find Christ, because He was present, “as his custom was.” We should not only admire, but also follow His holy example and have that same custom. The decision to attend is not taken on a daily or weekly basis, but once at the beginning of our Christian life. When the Lord’s people meet, we'll be there will them.
He still meets with believers according to His promise. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). We're not just meeting with other Christians, but with the Lord. Someone said that the Lord is in every meeting and waits for us to share with us. We should consider meetings as our “pre-arranged appointments” with the Lord and part of our personal commitment to Him.
