Presidential church attendance

An exchange I had on Facebook (slightly edited). 

It would be very impractical for a president to attend church. He'd instantly become the center of attention, which subverts the focus of a worship service. The pres. has a huge obtrusive security entourage, motorcade, &c. It would be extremely distracting to worshipers.

Prescinding the predictable knee-jerk reactions, nothing in Scripture requires Christians to worship in a building constructed and designated for Christian worship. I have no problem with that convention, but it's just a tradition. A Christian president can fulfill his religious duties by worshiping in a more private setting. It doesn't have to be "a church". He could have service in the White House Chapel. A chaplain could officiate. And if the White House doesn't have a chapel, some room could be used for that purpose.The original places of worship or house-churches or out of doors. Architecture isn't what makes something a worship service. 

BTW, it's an interesting question whether a Christian president should patronize the National Cathedral. That's a church building affiliated with an apostate denomination.

The passage from Hebrew sis not a general command to all Christians, but a command to mid-1C messianic Jews, perhaps in Rome, who were disassociating themselves from the Christian faith for fear of persecution. There's certainly a general principle there to be had, but it's different from the facile appeal you're making.

Actually, there are two limitations to the injunction: 

i) It has reference to messianic Jews who are on the brink of apostasy. 

ii) It has reference to Christians who forego public worship for fear of persecution.

It doesn't address other reasons.

The only implicit qualification for elders in Hebrews is people who knew Jesus or knew people who knew Jesus. That's not transferable to the 21C.

http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2013/08/church-leaders.html

"You’re confusing observations about the context of the epistle for limitations on its instructions to the believers or to its applicability today."

You suffer from a simplistic, robotic view of biblical paraenesis. On the one hand, some commands and prohibitions reflect moral absolutes. On the other hand, some commands and prohibitions address typical situations, but don't cover atypical situations. Take the sole caregiver of a senile, bedridden spouse or parent. Or a parent at the bedside of a dying child. Or the parent of an autistic child who's dangerous to himself if left unattended. Christians in situations like that don't have the same freedom of action. Moreover, there are circumstances where we have competing obligations. In case of conflict, a higher duty temporarily overrides a lower duty. If you don't wish to be a Pharisee who rigidly applies biblical injunctions without regard to necessary exceptions or priority structures.

Fear of persecution or martyrdom is not a justification to repudiate the Christian faith or disown fellow Christians to avoid risky association. There is, however, an elementary difference between acting out of cowardly self-interest and acting out of consideration for the sake of others. Motivations can be relevant to the licit or illicit character of an action.