Skipping Church

This past Sunday I went with a gathering of friends to place in our city, McKinney, and did some remodeling.  It was my favorite part of the remodeling process, demolition.  It is also the part that I am the best at...which isn't saying very much but I digress.  I was in my car driving to the work site when I couldn't help but notice the churches that I was passing as I sped by.  People were moving in and out of the buildings.  Some were sparsely attended and others seemed bustling with activity.  Regardless of what their attendance was that day, they were all similar in the sense that people were coming together at their regularly scheduled time to go to their regularly scheduled Sunday morning church services with most of the same elements that it did the week before.  It was routine.  That isn't a bad thing, in a world of inconsistency it is good to have things like schedules and programs.  I am not anti routine by any stretch of the imagination.  As a matter of fact, I love my routines, I'm comfortable with my routines, my routines make me feel safe.  Maybe that is why it is really healthy and maybe even spiritual to disrupt your routines.

I think when our spirituality becomes routine, it turns into religion.  It turns into a cold, stale and predictable path.  I think we all get lulled into an unconscious faith when we fail to realize this.  We don't venture too far outside of what we expect and we avoid things that are new or outside of what we deem "normal".  This past Sunday I remembered that God cannot be contained within a building or even a program.  He is among and is present among friends that are volunteering their time and efforts to show love to people they don't even know.  The Holy Spirit is there in the "incidental" conversation that you have with someone you just met and yet they are opening up about their painful past and uncertain future.  Jesus is there when you are hammering a nail and tearing up drywall while the neighbors in nearby homes notice your efforts and smile when you walk by (Psalm 139:7-9).

I'm not going all pantheistic on you, I realize the importance of preaching God's Word and singing worship songs together.  My soul is touched when I hear a great sermon, moved when I am challenged by Scripture and my eyes have teared up while singing words of a praise and worship song.  But worship can, and does, happen while you are hammering a nail and sawing a piece of wood.  He is there when we gather in His name, His precious name, and devote ourselves to Him and love each other accordingly (Matthew 18:20).

My encouragement to you is, break your routine once in a while.  Skip church.  You heard me.  Skip church.  Not to watch a game, not to sleep in but to do something else that is devoted to Him.  Maybe it is a service project or feeding the homeless.  Maybe it is to study your Bible in a coffee shop uninterrupted.  Whatever it is, do it because you love Him and want to know Him better.  Peel off that thick layer of religion that has coated your heart for too long and make your walk with Him a dynamic one. 

I'll be honest with you, I almost skipped the service project I'm talking about this week.  I had a pretty rough week as well as a busy one.  I was feeling like I didn't want to be around people very much and like I needed the rest.  At some point God spoke to me, not audibly, and I felt very strongly that instead of skipping it, it was the remedy for my troubled soul this week. I was right.  God rewarded that time by giving me the opportunity to connect with people I had not previously and by getting outside of myself to focus on others.   I remembered that Jesus served others despite the intense persecution He was under.  Despite the fact that He was on a mission to save us.  He had all kinds of excuses for not serving others but He served instead of demanding that we serve Him.  The King.  Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to serve You (Matthew 20:28)!

Matt