[57] As they were walking along the road, a man said to Him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” [58] Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” [59] He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” [60] Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” [61] Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” [62] Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Growing up, going to church was a non-negotiable in our household. In fact, you knew you would be going to church at least three times each week; Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. On Sunday morning you got up, put on your church clothes and headed out to Sunday School and worship. Sunday evenings typically consisted of some kind of educational class followed by a more casual worship service that oftentimes saw the youth choir replacing the typical Sunday morning adult choir. Wednesday night consisted of “Wednesday Night Suppers”, choir rehearsals, prayer meeting, and various children and youth activities. Maybe you already guessed it… Yes, I grew up a Southern Baptist. However, I’ve talked with people across denominational lines who’ve told me that attending church and church activities was at one time a regular part of their growing up experience as well.
Now, let me just say that I believe that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being born in a bread pan makes you a piece of bread! But at the same time, I firmly believe that it is vital that Christian’s gather regularly with the Body of Christ for Biblical teaching, fellowship, prayer, and accountability. (BTW… the Body of Christ is the church; the church is not just a building) How any Christian can stand firm in their faith in this day and age without these things is beyond me. It’s hard enough for a person to stand firm when they do attend church regularly.
Oh, and BTW… I have to say that when I was growing up, nothing got in the way of going to church. Going to church came before sports, entertainment, parties, etc. Family life revolved around church not visa-versa. It seems more prevalent in today’s culture that if a kid has a ballgame at the same time as church, the ballgame takes precedence. If someone is throwing a party at the same time as church, the party takes precedence. If there’s a concert or sporting event happening at the same time as church, well you get the idea.
I can remember a time when coaches would have never scheduled a sporting event on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday evening. These times were set aside for people to go to church. I guess for that matter I can remember when almost everything was closed on Sundays because it was a sacred day, a day that was reserved for God and family. Not anymore! And the saddest part of it all is that Christian’s are contributing to the demise of church attendance by actually allowing other things such as their children’s sporting events to take precedence over church! I mean, what are we teaching our children about church if we chose to take them to a ball game or sporting event instead of church? I’m sorry if I am stepping on toes here, but I believe that many Christian’s today have gotten their priorities way out of whack, and if we want to see the next generation see church as something more than a waste of their time we have to place attending church back on the top of our priorities list.
And man, are we busy or what!?! But what are we busy doing? Social networking, email, and the internet consume more of our time than any of us are willing to admit. I mean, isn’t technology supposed to make our lives easier…give us more time?? Well it doesn’t! The average person is consumed with emails at work and at home, and of course we have to keep up with everyone on Twitter and Facebook. And somewhere in between emails, Facebook, Twitter, working 40 plus hours, sleeping, eating, taking care of the house, spending time with the kids, spending time with our spouse, and finding time for some R & R, we have to find time for church. “I mean, it will get squeezed in there somewhere if there’s any time left in the week. If not, Jesus will have to just wait until we find time for Him. It’s ok though because He understands…”
Actually it’s not ok. As followers of Christ nothing is to take precedence over our relationship and obedience to Him. Following Christ has a cost, one that seems fewer and fewer people are willing to pay. And so far we’ve only talked about church attendance. We haven’t even dug into the topic of serving the church which is a whole other issue! I mean, trying to get people to serve within the church is like trying to get a vegetarian to eat raw chicken! Serving within the church is often times seen as a painful task that no one wants to do. And I’ll admit that part of the reason serving often seems painful is that leaders present it that way. They come across desperate (because they are) and they rarely gather those who serve for times of play or fun. Church leaders need to take a few lessons from Google and other major companies who know how to make work (serving) feel like play. Serving the church should be a joy and not a downer!
Serving the church isn’t something a person does for their pastor, church leader, or to gain “kingdom brownie points”; serving the church is something we do for Christ and for the building up and growing of His church. The one who is serving must work to keep their eyes and their focus on Jesus because serving is inevitably going to have its painful, ugly moments. And if we are serving for any other reason than to glorify Christ, and to build up and see His church grow, it will only be a matter of time before we begin looking for a way to escape, and sometimes that means escaping church all-together. This is precisely where Satan would like to see all of us get to.
So, are Christian’s too busy for Jesus and His church? I believe for many of us the answer is “YES”. The good news is that we can change this by restructuring our priorities. And in my “Biblically based” opinion, I believe our top three priorities should go as follows:
1. God – We are called to love God with All of our heart, soul, mind, and strength
2. Family – I firmly believe that our immediate family should be our first call to ministry
3. Church - Gathering regularly with other believers to glorify God, grow in our faith, and to gain the tools necessary to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
Everything else should be prioritized after these three things.
In closing I would like to share a few “What if” with you…
· What if we got as excited about going to church as we do about going to a sporting event?
· What if we spent as much time in God’s Word as we do playing “Words with Friends”?
· What if instead of walking into church with a critical eye, we walked into church with a listening ear?
· What if we made attending church the top priority of our week no matter how we “feel” on Sunday morning?
· What if our kids saw us chose church over sporting events, ballgames, or parties?
· What if we lived out Luke 9:57-62 and made sure that nothing took precedence over Christ and His church?
· What if Christian’s began taking a stand and once again held Sunday as a day for church, family, and rest?
· What if everyone who attended church served the church in one way or another?
· What if each week we traded an hour of Facebook time for an hour in God’s Word?
· What if Christian’s reprioritized their lives so that God was first, family was second, church third, and everything else coming after?
· What if people saw Christian’s living what they say they believe?
· What if… You fill in the blank
Are we too busy? Are you too busy? And are you too busy for Jesus and His church?
Only you can answer that. Certainly something to think about it…
Pastor Christian Watts
Living Bridge Community Church
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