The Main Thing

I've been hearing quite a bit lately about churches who are experiencing turmoil internally and about some who are even tearing apart at the seams, and I find myself asking over and over -- "Why?" The only answer I can come up with is what my pastor has said time and time and time again from the pulpit -- "We have made church all about "us" -- mere, mortal, imperfect humans -- and we are not keeping the main thing the main thing!" And, the main thing is JESUS CHRIST!! After all, what other reason do we have for going to church?

Oh, don't get me wrong, the fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ is something that can be bought with no amount of money, but the whole purpose of church is to worship the Lord. Are we there to put on a fashion show in order to get compliments on our clothing or to try to outdress Sister Sue or Brother Bill? Are we there to have our bottoms powdered, our backs patted and our feelings soothed? Are we there to serve on committees, teach classes, etc. in order to have something upstanding to put on our resumes under the heading "Civic Activities"? Are we there because our ancestors had a falling out with the ancestors of someone else in that church 100 years ago and, by gosh, we have to go in order to defend our ancestors' beliefs? And probably not even knowing the reason for the falling out in the first place?

If we answer "yes" to ANY of the above questions, then my friend we have failed to keep the main thing the main thing! God is not impressed by our clothing; He doesn't care about our resumes; and He's more than likely quite nauseated by the years of animosity between church members! And, while He does care about our feelings, my belief is that He expects at some point for us to grow up and get over the need for powdered bottoms, patted backs and soothed feelings!

Then, I find myself asking "Why?" again. "Why can't we just go to church to worship our Omnicient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent God?" After all, HE IS THE REASON WE WORSHIP!! No matter what we have been through in the past, what we are going through right now, or what we will face in the future, our Heavenly Father suffered so much more than we ever have or will when He took the sins of the entire world upon His shoulders, hung on that cross, poured out every drop of blood in His body, and endured the most horrible death imaginable. Any problems we have pale in comparison.

I just know in my heart that if church members were diligent in keeping their eyes focused on Jesus and on trying to reach lost souls for Jesus -- leaving self completely out of the picture --everything else would take care of itself. Churches would thrive, people would love each other and most important of all -- lost people would be saved!! And that, dear friend, is the MAIN thing!!