A Word of Praise for those Who Will Not Go to Church

Here's a fair warning: If your sense of irony has been disconnected, you will not appreciate what follows below:

 

Have you ever heard someone make the comment: "I don't go to church because there are too many hypocrites there"? I imagine we all have, usually right after we have asked them if they would come to the worship with us. Perhaps we've even used this excuse ourselves, for it is a dandy and nearly always cuts off any further suggestions that a visit to church might be good for a certain someone.

 

So, let's look at the argument, "I would go to church, except for the hypocrites". Perhaps we have been too hard on such souls for, in reality, these people must be absolute paragons of virtue. After all, if they are willing to risk their eternal soul in order to stand on principle, they should be worthy of praise not scorn. We know they are risking their souls because we are commanded to not forsake the assembly and that those who do are subjecting themselves to a severe punishment (Hebrews 10:25-29).

 

Here are some questions you may have wondered about concerning these spiritual giants who would not soil their feet by going into an assembly of hypocrites. Where do they shop for groceries? Where do they get gas for their automobiles? Where do they work? Where do their children go to school? The list is endless, but you get the point: Those who possess the lofty standard of "no association with hypocrites" would certainly not violate that standard by associating with hypocrites for such insignificant things as food, transportation, employment or education.

 

So we must assume that these heroic men and women who are putting their eternities at risk must live alone. They raise their own food, make their own clothes from items only foraged off of the land, and they travel only on foot in places that have no roads (after all, those roads may have been built by hypocrites). Of course they can never marry, for what if the person turned out to be a hypocrite? Or worse, what if their children grew up to be hypocrites? I think you will agree that these chances could not be taken.

 

Yes, once viewed in the correct light, I believe that we can all agree that these incredible people who would not go to worship, who would refrain from singing songs of praise with fellow Christians, who would avoid offering prayers with others to their holy Father, and who would under no circumstances ever partake of the communion (by the very definition of the word) must be worthy of praise.

 

Or maybe, just maybe, they are hypocrites themselves...

 

The fact is that we all struggle with hypocrisy in our lives, so we should take extra care whenever we are too quick to judge others. Of course hypocrisy is a sin, and of course we must repent of it whenever we become aware in it in our own lives. But, if we should ever become so bold as to refuse to obey God's directives concerning worship with the church for an excuse so lame, we should be ashamed. Jesus put it a whole lot better, and with a lot fewer words:  

 

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?. Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

Matthew 7:1-5, NKJV

 

By the way, if you enjoyed this article would you consider hitting the "like button" and sharing it with others? It really helps in getting these daily thoughts out to as many as might benefit from them. Thank you, so much, for taking the time to read today's article!

Your Best

I love sports and especially enjoy watching young kids compete. I have had the privilege of coaching hundreds of kids on dozens of different teams through the years. I have had the thrill of watching kids develop from such little experience that they could hardly dribble a basketball to such advanced skills that they competed for state championships.

 

Having said that, it has always hurt me whenever I watched coaches screaming at their kids for some mistake, be it real or imagined. I have even seen coaches publicly humiliate a young boy or girl for something as simple as missing a free throw. This disappointment I felt for the kids when so mistreated helped frame my coaching to focus more on the effort, rather than a the specific outcome of a shot or pass or a particular play that was being run. Instead, I always tried to encourage the boys and girls to learn how to correctly play the sport and to then focus on their best effort, rather than the result of a missed shot or lost game.

 

I found that one of the most successful things I could do was get them together at the very next practice following a game and let them know what they did well and what they could work on to make them even better. If you can imagine in your mind's eye a team of 8 and 9 year-old girls seated on the floor in a circle, with me standing in the middle of their group, then you will begin to get the picture. I can remember going over each girl's game with their big eyes fastened on me as I told them in front of the entire team the very things they they did well in that game, and some of the things that they might work on for the next game.

 

This simple method seemed to light a fire under the girls (and boys) for a very understandable reason: We thrive on encouragement! In a world that seems to pick apart and magnify each failure, such encouragement is like a refreshing rain upon a drought-stricken crop. Praise and encouragement, when done from pure motives, can lift a person's crushed spirit and change a seeming failure into a smashing success. And it has the effect of properly building an important self-esteem that has benefits far beyond the playgrounds of our youth.

 

When you think about it, this is the very thing that God does for us. He tells us that He wants our best efforts in carrying out His directions, and that He will then take care of the rest. Imagine what it will be like on the Day of Judgment when we will all appear before our Creator to give an account of our deeds while living on this earth. Imagine what it will be like, knowing full well that we have fallen short so many times, but then hearing the words, "Well done!'

 

Now please don't get me wrong. If we have not lived our lives for Him, if we have not repented and had our sins washed away, or if we should simply give up short of the goal, we will not hear those words of encouragement and praise. But, if we are in Christ, if we are walking in the light as He is in the light, and if we will give our best, we will hear those words. It is what we all should be living for, isn't it?

 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

II Timothy 2:15, RSV

 

 

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 24:21, ESV 

 

If these thoughts have helped you in some small way, won't you share them with someone else that you believe will benefit from them? Perhaps a word of encouragement will inspire them to do their best for the One who is fully deserving of that effort.

 

 

What If We Say Nothing?

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law,

and if I perish, I perish."

Esther 4:14-16, ESV

 

According to the Federal Reserve, over 70 million bank transactions occur every day. Credit sources reveal an addition 110 million credit card transactions occur each day in America. That's over 180 million transactions each day. They are settled each night, to the penny, without fail. Errors are rare because banks consider money important, and so do their clients.

 

Did you know that average number of votes in America each election cycle is usually under 150 million? Yet these votes take days to count in some states, weeks in others. What are they doing? If banks can accurately and honestly settle more than that number of transactions every day, why can't we do at least that well when the counters have two years between elections to get it right?

 

What does this have to do with anything? Just this: My generation, the baby boomers, grew up in a nation that was far from perfect, but with far less open corruption. I remember as a teenager watching the impeachment hearings for a corrupt President. He had to resign in disgrace. What was his terrible crime? He lied to the American public and got caught. He did so in an era when Americans would not tolerate open lying from their officials. A poll was taken at that time of the most hated individuals in history. The top three were Satan, Adolph Hitler, and the lying President - Richard Nixon. People despised and would not tolerate any politician who lied to them.

 

Now people will not vote for a politician unless he does. And, should he get caught at lying, his side will only say that it's no worse than the other side's fellow. While this may be true, it is not right, and we should not tolerate corruption, but we remain silent because we don't want to stand out or look foolish...

 

and we doom our children and grandchildren's generation to be ruled by evil men because we are afraid to say anything.

 

Esther, in her time, was a young Jewish lady who had been made Queen by an incredible series of events. In fact, the only logical conclusion that one could draw was that she was Queen because God wanted her to be so. There was a plot against her fellow Jews during her time as queen that threatened to wipe out the entire race. When she was asked to intervene with the King, this young lady was at first reluctant to do so. But she was reminded that her silence would come only at the risk of great peril, so this courageous young lady spoke out and saved her people.

 

She knew that she could not remain silent, even if speaking out put her own life at risk, because too many people were depending on her.

 

We could learn a lesson from Esther.  

Hold You!

My youngest grandson is two. Almost since the time he learned to walk and talk, he would come up to you, look at you with his big brown eyes, hold out his arms and say, "Hold you?" How can you refuse an offer like that?

 

I do hold him, every single time he asks, because I know from the experience of my three children and three older grandchildren that these days will not last. There will come a point where he is too big, too cool, and too independent to be held by his Pops, so for now I enjoy the moment.

 

I think in many ways, this is the relationship that God longs to have with us. Not the "too independent" phase, but the innocent phase where we realize that we need Him and that it would be nice to just let Him carry us. Here is the offer that He made to Israel during the time of Isaiah the prophet. I believe the offer still holds true today for those who will just take advantage of it:

 

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Isaiah 40:10-11, NIV

 

Isn't that a marvelous picture? God is willing to gather us like little lambs and hold us close to His heart! It is an incredible privilege that He offers to all who will listen, and for a while we are more than eager to take Him up on that offer. But for all to many, something happens. Perhaps we think we are just too big, maybe we are just too cool, or maybe we just become too independent to the point that we don't think we need Him to carry us around anymore. Whatever the circumstance, it is tragic, for when we no longer feel the need to be gathered up in the arms of our loving Father and be held close to His heart we lose out on one of the greatest comforts that we could ever know.

 

In this world that has become a bit too fast paced and more than a bit too mean, isn't it nice to know that God is still there with His offer to "hold you".

 

 

 

If these daily articles are something you enjoy, you could help us get them to more people who might benefit from their simple thoughts. Please like and share any of the articles that you might like others to read.  

Do What You Can

But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could...

Mark 14:6-8, ESV

 

I love this passage. This woman, most likely Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, was moved in the very depths of her heart to do something for Jesus for the simple fact that she loved Him. So she took something very precious to her and extremely valuable to men, and she used it all in anointing Jesus. She was met with immediate criticism, but that did not matter. She was only doing what she could.

 

When you think about it, this is precisely what we are commanded to do. Often times it will not seem enough to us, rarely will it seem enough to others, and occasionally these efforts will meet with the criticism of the ignorant and the wicked. But this simply should not matter to us. What should matter is whether or not we are doing our best for Jesus for the simple fact that we love Him.

 

We had an election yesterday in America. It was an important one that will have ramifications that will be felt for years. No doubt, there will be people who will try to cheat and change the election to their liking. No doubt there will be people who say our efforts were not enough - perhaps we will even feel that way. But, if we prayed for guidance, made the best choice we were capable of, and then actually voted, then we did what we could.

 

And while this effort may not seem enough in the eyes of men, it is the eyes of God that really matter. This is not only true for voting, but in everything we do that has consequence in this world in which we live. We must do what we can for God, not only because we are required to do so, but because we love Him. And, this will be enough!

 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

II Timothy 2:15, ESV