Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
John Brown, in a letter of counsel to one of his pupils, newly ordained over a small congregation:
“I know the vanity of your heart, and that you will feel mortified that your congregation is very small, in comparison with those of your brethren around you; but assure yourself on the word of an old man, that when you come to give an account of them to the Lord Christ, at his judgment-seat, you will think you have had enough.”
To be a Christian is to be part of God’s family. It involves having a relationship with God and with His people. In fact, the New Testament does not know of a Christian who is not part of a local assembly of believers, in other words, a local Church. When the Holy Spirit inspired letters for God’s people, they were addressed not to individual members in their homes but to local Churches. It was simply assumed that when the letter was read to the gathered Church, the people of God would be there to hear it. Christianity is not just all about you; nor is it just about you and Jesus; its about you, Jesus and all of God’s people.
Etiquette: a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group.