I missed church today. That’s pretty unusual for me, particularly recently. I like to go to church. I enjoy the fellowship and the praise and worship and I tolerate the sermons pretty well. Today, I had too much going on. So I downloaded the Wow Best Praise and Worship Songs for 2019. I don’t know how they know which are the best since it’s only the beginning of April, but the music was awesome. I listened nearly all day while I carried out my many “to-do” items. It was a special time with God, just me and him and the music.
I won’t become a regular non-church goer. I could do what I did today on any day of the week and I hope I will. The problem with the church is sometimes I find that I substitute it for a relationship with God. If I go to church regularly, I feel I must be doing alright with God. We Protestants like to talk about a “personal” relationship but aren’t really comfortable with it or very good at it.
I guess I’m talking about myself. Being “personal” or one-on-one with another person is hard. To do that with God is really hard. If we are one-on-one, we can’t maintain our “fake us.” The more time we spend together; the more things get real. I have been spending lots of time with one guy who is helping me with a house restoration. Well, really I’m more the helper. We have gotten to be pretty real with each other and still enjoy each other’s company. Just think of the possibilities if we would commit to that kind of realness with God.
Of course, God already knows us but that doesn’t keep us from trying to hide. It’s pretty easy to hide in a church. Most of us can “fake it” for a couple of hours. It’s really mostly audience participation. There’s no need to be open, honest or real. In fact, openness, honesty, and reality might get you banished.
I bet if we spend more time with God during the week, our Sundays would be even better. I hope I get to the point that missing time with God is even more unthinkable than missing church. Who said there are no more Jesus freaks?
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