What is Most Important to You?

Yesterday, the staff at Central Baptist Church met for our annual vision planning meeting.  We started reading a book together by David Platt, Radical.  As we began our time of looking forward to how God might desire to move through Central Baptist Church in the upcoming year, we posed to one another a very interesting question: If we were in jeopardy of being arrested, persecuted and/or killed for meeting together, for what reasons would we gather?  This is not a question that I have really thought through very often because I live in a country where that freedom is never in jeopardy.  It forced me to think about what things, rituals, tasks, and meetings were really worth sacrificing my life over.  Two weeks ago, the students and I celebrated the end of summer with our annual event, Mudfest.  Would gathering together to slop around in the mud be worth our very lives?
If I were honest, a good size hunk of what we do to create unity and fellowship within the group would not be worth my last breath.  When you think about the things in terms of a last breath kind of context, often the things that are most meaningful or hold the greatest significance remain (although I always thought death with a chocolate dipped cone from Dairy Queen in my hand would be a sweet way to take my last breath).  So what do you think, what reasons within the church would be worth you risking your freedom or even your life?  What about Sunday school, worship service, prayer meetings, ice cream socials, training events, Wednesday night meals, or the other ministries that we hold to each week with our brothers and sisters in Christ?  Which events would stand up against the test of one's last breath?
I can tell you that I really struggle answering this question.  I struggle because I am not sure what all that I can strip away.  There is a reason for so much of the list to remain and at the same time, an equal number of reasons for each thing to be removed.  Let's take Sunday school for example.  Sunday school is beneficial in the teaching of doctrine, theology, biblical principles and truths.  Each of these things are worthy causes to lay one's life down for, but should my life be the cost of sharing these things by meeting together.  Can't these same things be taught through correspondence and commentaries?  What about the ice cream social?  Obviously, it is not important to have ice cream, even in response to my previous comment, ice cream is really not worth dying over.  At the same time though, the early church found it very important to meet together to share in meals and break bread together even in fear of the danger that their meetings might have posed to their safety.
So I guess my answer to this question is "Yes!"  Much of what we do in our churches, I would lay my life down for.  We are the family of God.  Families get together and meet with one another.  Families care for one another and break bread with one another.  Families celebrate together and learn from one another.  God did not create his family to live in solitude from the rest of the body.  God created the family to meet as the family no matter the cost.  So when he desires, I pray that my last breath is taken among the family of God.