These days, because I have very limited free time, I’m very selective about the movies I watch. I don’t want to waste 2-3 hours of my life on a bad movie! I could use that time for sweet precious sleep! My wife and I usually disagree on which movies to watch though – she likes the serious, introspective dramas while I just want to zone out and laugh at crude jokes. You can tell how different we are by our favorite movies: hers are “Braveheart” and “Forrest Gump” while mine are “My Sassy Girl” and “You’ve Got Mail.” Don’t cry, Shopgirl, don’t cry. (You can tell which side of the generation gap you stand on if you hear “you’ve got mail” and think of the sound of a modem. Also, if you know what a modem is.)
This is why when I watch a movie that’s not particularly good or too long, I get really annoyed. I just wasted 3 hours of my life that I will never get back just to watch a bunch of hobbits in awful British accents run around like a bunch of ninnies! Don’t waste my time with this stuff, Peter Jackson! And why do all elves look the same? Racist!
We all have similar attitudes with our time. Maybe it’s because we’re living in an age of instant gratification where the speed of 4G LTE brings us anything we want in seconds. Maybe it’s because our schedules are so full nowadays that it’s always just gogogogogo. Or maybe we’re just spoiled. But this attitude is often reflected towards church as well.
It seems like we have the same sort of consumeristic approach towards church as we do with movie choices or plans for Saturday night. If it can entertain me for a few hours and is a better option than anything else going on at the same time, then fine. Otherwise, don’t bother. And believe me, I understand this very well. Even as a pastor, sometimes I wish I didn’t have to go to another church function and just go home and hang out with my family or watch “Tangled” with my wife (a movie we can both agree on). But honestly? That attitude shows just how much we really are in need of more Jesus in our lives.
Now, let me caveat that church does not equal Jesus. Going to a retreat every month, coming out to early morning prayer every day, participating in a weekly small group meeting 3x a week WILL NOT get you into heaven and WILL NOT help you know Jesus more. These are just “things to do.” They do not equate to God.
However, it is specifically at “things” like these where we have opportunities to encounter God with our church community in ways that we do not throughout the rest of our days. Let’s be honest – how many of us are truly encountering Christ on the regular? How many of us feel like there’s not a single area of our lives where we need the Lord? (And not in a “God, give me more money” kind of way). Yet despite the fact that we know in our heart of hearts that we do need more Jesus, we still go out of our way to make excuses or prioritize tons of other things over church.
I challenge you, church. When you see an announcement for the fasting retreat, do you inwardly groan? When you hear about a praise and prayer event, do you automatically pretend like you’re busy? When you are invited to receive prayer, do you start inching towards the doorway? Again, I get the sentiment. But that feeling comes from our attitude towards “things.” If we can channel our focus on Jesus instead, I think our hearts will change. And frankly, there’s nothing that can change our hearts other than more Jesus.
So please sign up for the fasting retreat. There are no good movies out anyway.
From Pastor David’s Heart
January 25, 2015