I have been home for three weeks, but my heart is still in Africa. I can't get those children out of my mind. I can't keep the struggles that the people there are facing every single day out of my mind. Living conditions that are normal for them but are considered poverty for us...
Adjusting back to America is much harder than you might think (and to be honest, I am not sure if I really want to) but what I really want to write about is not about me but the church in America.
I hope you're ready for this.
Let's start-
Why do you go to church?
What makes you get up on a Sunday morning when you could be sleeping? Or maybe it is on a Saturday evening when you could be hanging out with your family or your friends?
Maybe you go because you think that it is the 'religious' thing to do and if you go enough times then you will be able to go to Heaven. Or you go because you are being made to. Maybe you just go because you want to see your friends; hey, you have nothing better to do!
Just think about this for a minute.
Why do YOU go to church?
Maybe you know the 'right' answer but is that reason really truly why you go? Is that really the underlying current of your going to church?
Consider this:
When you think about the word "church" what comes to mind? A nice big building with air condition, a nice pastoral staff, a nice worship band with some great singers, a sound team and all of the other people that you might need to make this church service inviting and comfortable for everyone, a youth group, a place for all of the younger kids to go. You might think you need a kitchen, bathrooms, and a lounge for everyone to go to before and after the service. Oh, we can't forget about a nice big parking lot for everyone to park their cars in!
All of the basic 'necessities' and then you need to have lots of activities going on within the church, right?
"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20
You see the church is not a building and everything going on in that building. The walls of a building are plainly just walls of a building. What makes a CHURCH is the gathering of two or more people in Christ's name. That's it! There is no building involved.
Now, we have buildings that we go to to gather with the body of Christ. That's fine. But you must be careful to remember that the building itself is nothing special. The body of Christ and His presence is what makes it a place of worship.
I am going to venture off a little bit now.. (Fair warning!)
Imagine this: What if the the place you gathered for church was a small one-room building made of crumbly bricks. It has a few windows with no screen or glass in 'em, no air conditioner, and everyone sat on wooden benches with no cushion or back and/or they sat on the dirt floor.
Would you still go?
What if the sermon lasted anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to all day? One man teaching the Word of God. Singing and dancing with no fancy instruments, no worship band, and you would be getting all sweaty because, remember, we have no air conditioner and you are dancing (and when I say dancing, I mean dancing).. What if you came out of church looking dirtier than you looked going in.. What if there was no parking lot for your car and you had to walk to church, no matter how far away it is..
Would you still go?
What if it would cost you your LIFE to go to this church just to HEAR the Word of God... just to sing praises to your Heavenly Father... just to be gathered with your brothers and sisters in CHRIST...
WOULD YOU STILL GO???
