I’m Too Busy And Other Great Excuses

I’m too busy to go to church and it’s my only day off. These were My go-to reasons for not attending church. Those were followed by: the church is full of hypocrites and I feel closer to God when I’m alone. I have heard some others that sounded pretty convincing such as My relationship with God is personal, it’s my own business, and I don’t need a building to define My faith. In fact, I liked those excuses so much I used them too when needed. I felt very well-armed against my church-attending friends and acquaintances should they dare attempt to invite me to church. As you can see, I had put a lot of thought and preparation into my defensive fortifications.

Intertwined in all of these positions are personal pronouns like I, me, and my, in fact, that one paragraph contains them 16 times!! … Proverbs 26:12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him….Ouch, that verse stung!

Its All About Me

Everything in the opening paragraph is about “Me””. The problem with all those excuses is: the church is not all about me. Yes, faith is a personal relationship with Jesus, not a brick-and-mortar building. But I had to ask myself, “where is my relationship with Jesus?” What am I doing with my only day off? Maybe I don’t have to be inside a church to serve God but am I serving Him at all? When I began to ask myself these questions, I couldn’t escape the answers.

Our pastor sometimes asks the question: “Have you grown in your faith this past year?” It’s well past four years since officially joining a Church group and although a bit slow to learn and some bumps in the road I can honestly say that each year I have grown in faith and knowledge. (please excuse the personal pronouns)  

The Church Is People

The church is God’s people. It just so happens that many of them meet together to praise God, sing, and study his word. It can be in a brick-and-mortar building (it’s nice to be out of the weather sometimes) We all grow together, pray together, strengthen each other. And yes, we also give back a little of what God has given us to support His work. Christians belong together. There is strength in numbers. If there was ever a time when Christians (and the world) needed strength and faith, it’s right now.

Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.