Gone Fishing
Posted by: forthright <forthright@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Reality Check
Gone Fishing
by Stan Mitchell
The new minister confronted Jake Bratwurst and
declared: "I'm told you went to the ball game
instead of church this morning."
"That's a lie," Jake declared, "and I've got the
string of fish to prove it!"
Two other men went fishing Sunday morning, but
were feeling rather guilty about it. Said one, "I
suppose we should have gone to church this
morning."
The other replied, "No way! I couldn't have gone
to church this morning anyway. My wife's in bed
with the flu!"
I like to fish. And watch ball games. And read. I
love visiting with family, gardening, and it would
be nice to just sit in on a quiet morning and
relax with a cup of coffee, though I can't
remember when last I did that.
Can you think of anything more important that you
could be doing this Sunday morning than being in
worship? There may be more urgent things. There
may be emergencies. But our worship is diminished
by every person who misses on a given Sunday. A
hundred members missing means a hundred fewer
voices to sing, a hundred fewer Christians
edified. A hundred members missing means a hundred
neighbors who conclude that our Christianity last
week was, after all, just talk. A hundred members
missing means our children have drawn some
conclusions about what mom and dad really see as
important.
Look at this passage again, and count the number
of opportunities to do good you missed by missing
worship:
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a
guilty conscience ... let us hold unswervingly to
the hope we profess ... let us consider how we may
spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together ..." (Hebrews
10:22-25).
No cleansed hearts and thoughts. Our hope a little
more insecure. The difficult task of loving and
serving others made more difficult without a
support network of those who might have spurred us
on.
I have it on good authority that fish bite on
Saturdays, too!
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