I skipped church last Sunday. My fourteen month old child was sick and my wife decided that it was best for him to stay home. I could have gone to church on my own, but I decided to stay and spend that time with my wife and son instead. Was that the right decision? Was it the wrong decision? Am I a bad Christian for having stayed home when I could have gone to church to worship? These are all the wrong questions, aimed at making me feel guilty about "not doing enough". The truth of the matter is that going to church can sometime be an even worse decision than staying home. The key is they attitude you have in your heart when making the decision.
I do not believe that Jesus cares much about people going to church just because they feel obligated. I believe Jesus wants people to go to church as an act of worship towards him (see my post on "What is Worship?"), in order to learn and grow closer to him, to experience fellowship with other believers and be encouraged and uplifted. Now, let me clear about this, I do NOT believe that skipping church is a habit anyone should adopt either. I rarely skip church (which is different than not going to church because of sickness or any other legitimate reason) but, when I do, I don't feel guilty about it.
When I first became a Christian, Jesus led me in a study of the difference between what it means to be religious and what it means to have a genuine relationship with Him. I believe that study has made, and continues to make, a big difference in my relation ship with him. I encourage you to undertake that same study for yourself.
I do not judge my relationships with friends based on how much I do for them or they do for me. I judge my relationship with friends,based on the intimacy between us, based on the amount and quality of the time we spend together. If I measure my relationship with my regular friends in terms of the intimacy, time, and quality of our interactions, why then, should I measure my relationship with Christ, who loves me to the point of going to the cross for me while I was still in my sin, in terms of performance and the things I do or don't do for Him? Jesus said:
How do you measure your relationship with Christ (or "Christianity")? Do you consider yourself a good Christian because you do all the right thing, ie: going to church, praying, checking off your to do list? or do you enjoy deep, intimate, open and honest fellowship with this amazing friend, who loved you to the point of giving his own life for you?
People have this same religious attitude towards serving in ministry. They serve with the underlying intention of "being good," or earning credits to make it into heaven. I believe this is the wrong attitude, not because serving is wrong, but because of the motivation behind it. I believe that our service and obedience towards God should be an expression of our love towards Him, not an attempt to earn something. I do not serve and love my wife to get stuff from her (....for the most part), but I serve her because I love and care for her. Last night, in the middle of the night, I knocked a lamp over accidentally and pieces of glass went flying all over my side of the bed, which also happens to be right in front of the bathroom door. This morning when I woke up I did not clean those shards of glass because I was trying to earn brownie points from my wife or child, I cleaned them up because, had I not done so, she probably would have stepped on them and hurt herself on her way into the bathroom this morning. It was out of my love and concern for her, not to earn anything.
Along the same line of thought, my wife and I serve as Community Group ministry directors for the church we currently attend. We do not serve because we believe that we are earning points with God that will facilitate our entry into Heaven. We serve because we have a passion for community groups, and community, and people helping each other grow closer to Christ. I think this is what the bible means when it says:
Additional Scripture References: Romans 3:20,28, 4:3, 5:1, James 2:14-26
I do not believe that Jesus cares much about people going to church just because they feel obligated. I believe Jesus wants people to go to church as an act of worship towards him (see my post on "What is Worship?"), in order to learn and grow closer to him, to experience fellowship with other believers and be encouraged and uplifted. Now, let me clear about this, I do NOT believe that skipping church is a habit anyone should adopt either. I rarely skip church (which is different than not going to church because of sickness or any other legitimate reason) but, when I do, I don't feel guilty about it.
When I first became a Christian, Jesus led me in a study of the difference between what it means to be religious and what it means to have a genuine relationship with Him. I believe that study has made, and continues to make, a big difference in my relation ship with him. I encourage you to undertake that same study for yourself.
I do not judge my relationships with friends based on how much I do for them or they do for me. I judge my relationship with friends,based on the intimacy between us, based on the amount and quality of the time we spend together. If I measure my relationship with my regular friends in terms of the intimacy, time, and quality of our interactions, why then, should I measure my relationship with Christ, who loves me to the point of going to the cross for me while I was still in my sin, in terms of performance and the things I do or don't do for Him? Jesus said:
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for,his friends." John 15:13None of my friends has done this for me, nor I for them. But Jesus did. He did not die so I could continue to strive to earn my way into heaven. That method had been proven ineffective by thousands of years worth of people trying and failing miserably. No matter what I do or don't do, God will never love me any more or less than He already does.
How do you measure your relationship with Christ (or "Christianity")? Do you consider yourself a good Christian because you do all the right thing, ie: going to church, praying, checking off your to do list? or do you enjoy deep, intimate, open and honest fellowship with this amazing friend, who loved you to the point of giving his own life for you?
People have this same religious attitude towards serving in ministry. They serve with the underlying intention of "being good," or earning credits to make it into heaven. I believe this is the wrong attitude, not because serving is wrong, but because of the motivation behind it. I believe that our service and obedience towards God should be an expression of our love towards Him, not an attempt to earn something. I do not serve and love my wife to get stuff from her (....for the most part), but I serve her because I love and care for her. Last night, in the middle of the night, I knocked a lamp over accidentally and pieces of glass went flying all over my side of the bed, which also happens to be right in front of the bathroom door. This morning when I woke up I did not clean those shards of glass because I was trying to earn brownie points from my wife or child, I cleaned them up because, had I not done so, she probably would have stepped on them and hurt herself on her way into the bathroom this morning. It was out of my love and concern for her, not to earn anything.
Along the same line of thought, my wife and I serve as Community Group ministry directors for the church we currently attend. We do not serve because we believe that we are earning points with God that will facilitate our entry into Heaven. We serve because we have a passion for community groups, and community, and people helping each other grow closer to Christ. I think this is what the bible means when it says:
"...Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." James 2:18Today I want to challenge you to inspect the motivation behind your actions. Why do you go to church? Why do you serve?
Additional Scripture References: Romans 3:20,28, 4:3, 5:1, James 2:14-26
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