More on Empty Pews...

You may think that the things I wrote about in my last post are limited to one or two congregations, that I base my observations on very limited experience. My husband and I, however, regularly encounter all sorts of congregations as a result of my husband's vocation. Our encounters are not even limited to one denomination, although the majority are mainline protestant. Only a very few groups exhibit a wholehearted passion for their Creator and Savior.

Too many people are only putting in their payment for the Jesus Christ insurance policy. Those who have become insurance salesmen have been trained how to illicit a positive response. Effective ones can draw hundreds, even thousands of individuals to come forward in an alter call. I have seen nearly whole audiences walk forward. Yet, I know that most of those people did so because they are only acting out what they think someone is expecting of them, they were following the cues in the script. The ones who are genuinely giving their lives to God at those times are often left without support and guidance; like babies left on a sidewalk, they don't know how to find sustanence and die for lack of love.

Every Sunday people go to churches and put on a show. They smile and shake hands, sing a few songs, nod their heads (some in sleepiness, some in response to someone's command), meanwhile inside their hearts they have personal struggles, questions, sadness, loneliness, and anxiety that remains. There is also a sense of guilt that people carry as they think that something must be wrong with them for having these feelings. Afterall, no-one else who has this insurance policy feels that way right? And so, most people pretend that they have the perfect Christian life and home. The difficulties of real life are never addressed and people go home no better off than they were before they went.

The church should have two main purposes: the first is to love YHVH with all their hearts, minds and souls; the second is to love one another as Messiah has loved us. Its not about going through the right motions, instead, it is a way of life, an attitude and posture of the heart. The modern church has become religion for the sake of religion. Our devotion should not be to a denomination, a building, or to certain practices, but to YHVH. We need to walk in obedience to Him, not to organizations. When we are facing Him, our lives will become a reflection of Him and a witness to everyone we encounter.