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Reverence or Recreation
by Shirley Scurlock
(HOME)

I went to church tonight as usual on a Wednesday night. I looked around and so many pews were empty. I sang the songs and knelt to pray but as I did I remembered every person I had asked to church recently. One friend said “there are too many hypocrites in church” and another said” I can get as much from God at home as you can in church.” Of course both statements are true but I think they miss the point.

Today in countries around the world our Christian brothers and sisters are murdered for their faith in Christ. They are commanded not to assemble themselves together in His name. They come together in a place of worship at their own peril in fear of losing their lives…. And yet they come. Is it to see brother so and so’s new suit or sis whoever’s new hairdo. Is it to find out the latest gossip? No. It is to worship the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for them and they are willing to die for Him.

In this country we have changed the House of God into recreation centers and the people feel no need to come. If we have dinners instead of prayer, many will come. If we have songfests, some will come. If we have church, few will come. We have left the heart of worship in many churches in this country. While men and women die for their faith and risk their lives to get to a house of worship, we allow ours to set empty.

Beautiful churches with stained glass windows and padded pews set nearly abandoned while across the street Christians shout for the home team at a local ball game. Men and women of God pray for a word to preach or teach those who come to learn about the Savior only to find that half of those who call themselves Christian, have chosen to take part in some other activity. There is a vast difference between the persecuted church and the pampered church.

We have so pampered ourselves that we come to God only when we need Him. We see no need to spend time in fellowship with Him in a house of worship. Praise God that in the Country we can gather lawfully and raise our hands to our God without fear, for there are brothers and sisters who at this very moment hide in the dark to lift their hands.

It is a slap in the face to those men and women that we who can gather without fear refuse to. We have one excuse after the other but the bottom line is that we only come to God when we need Him. Would those who have died for their faith be glad to sit down on those padded pews we take for granted? Would they shout for joy at the sight of our once tear stained altars? Would thy gather without our request or letter of invitation? With what reverence would they stream into our houses of worship, and how would they react to the empty pews?

If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then make your way to a house of worship this week. Stand up for the faith with respect for those who are dying for the Lord by going to church. Let the world know we see the men and women who are dying and though we can not touch them physically, we stand with them in the faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Tell the pastor that you have come to stand with the martyrs of the faith. Worship God in freedom while we have the chance, for we could one day find ourselves where they are now.

YOU CAN REACH MS. SCURLOCK HERE: sms2003@localnet.com