Some Church Goers Are Lost
"You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices. Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols;" -- Isaiah 57:7-8a
When I was a young person, I remember looking at numerous Christians in disgust. Yeah. I know. Shocking. It's also true. I wasn't a church goer. I wanted to be. And I even knew a few really good Christians. My Gran and my Aunt Murl stand front and center in that memory. But I also knew many Sunday morning Christians. You know the kind. They put on a good show for the pastor and everyone else on Sunday mornings and then come Monday they're back to doing as they please until the next Sunday morning rolls around.
Eventually, the Holy Spirit got hold of me and convinced me that church was a good thing. I went away to college and was baptized in an awesome church. The people there welcomed the college students with open arms. The church was so packed they had to set up folding chairs in the aisles every Sunday morning. And, you know, I never heard one person talk about what a financial burden we all must have been. They just loved us. So we told our friends and they told theirs and, well, people just kept coming to that wonderful church.
It still bothers me sometimes when I see people show up for church and act so self-righteous. We're all sinners. I don't want anyone to think I'm suggesting that folks stay away until they get it together. None of us would ever go to church if that were the case. No, I just get upset when people pretend to be better than they are and better than the rest of us. Cause it just isn't so.
I wonder if they believe that coming to church on Sunday makes them Christians? Maybe they don't care. I don't know. I just look around and see so many wonderful Christians reaching out, stumbling, getting up again, helping someone else, falling down, moving forward -- and on and on. We're all trying and sometimes failing but our hearts are determined to follow Jesus. I don't see that in some people at church. Does anyone else understand what I'm saying?
I believe we're called to share the gospel with the lost. I believe we're supposed to help the poor and lonely and less fortunate. But I also believe we need to look around us and see the person next to us at church. We shouldn't assume that he's a Christian just because he looks right at home.
God knows our hearts. He knows those who love Him and honor Him with actions and words. He also knows those who say all the right things, then turn aside because their hearts were never committed to serving Jesus. Those people are just as lost as those who have never heard the story of Christ's sacrifice for our sins. We need to tell them. Jesus meant His sacrifice to be for them too.
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