More Than Church
Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Every week I have a little ritual conversation with an elderly gentleman that I see. He and his wife go out to dinner every Saturday night. Isn’t that great that after many, many years of marriage they still have a date night?
This morning I got my normal weekly update about what restaurant they went to and the usual review of the food, portion sizes, and service. But, he sort of humbly started to tell me that this week they got a treat. As they were leaving the restaurant a younger man stopped them and told them he and his family had been observing them as they were eating their dinner and interacting with each other.
My friend was surprised but also pleased because the man asked how long they had been married. He reported 63 years. The man said something like, “Wow, how did you mange that?” The response my friend gave was, “Well, we go to church, we listen to each other, and try to ride the waves of the ups and downs over the years.” (Or something very close to that.)
I grieve over his answer. I have heard this man pray to the Lord many times and I can tell you that he does way more than go to church! He has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and worships Him weekly in a corporate setting and has daily times of worship as well. He wants to please God in all He does – including how he loves his wife.
It seems to me that he missed a great opportunity to teach someone else how important God is in our marriages. Many years ago I heard it taught that if we look at marriage as a triangle with Christ at the top angle and the husband and wife on the other two angles, it would picture Christ as the head of the marriage. As the husband and the wife both grow closer to Christ they will grow closer to each other – without effort
I read an article that says that 40% of Americans “claim to go to church.” (http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2007/03/01/how-many-americans-attend-church-each/) That does not mean a thing. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’” I fear that from today’s generations He will hear, “Lord, Lord, did I not show up in church every Sunday?” Many will still hear from Jesus, “I never knew you.” I know this because I was one of them for many years of my life.
I often hear people say that they “witnessed” to someone and when you hear the details what they did was invite them to church or just tell them that they go to church. An invitation to church is a good thing (assuming the church is preaching the Bible) but if the person never comes they never get a real witness of the love and forgiveness that Jesus offers.
There are so many people in our churches that do not know the Lord and so many churches that do not try to teach the real truth about Him that we have to be way more direct in our approaches to people if we want them to come to know Jesus Christ as we do. “Church” is not enough, it doesn’t say anything – except that we are a part of the 40% who “claim” to go to church. The article said that 26% is more like the number of people who actually do attend!
The 74% of Americans who are sitting in restaurants on Saturday night unknowingly observing the love of Christ being lived out in a marriage need to hear about more than “Church”. They need to hear how Christ loved the church so much that He laid His life down to save her from her sin. 1 John 3:16-17 says, “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
What a great ending to their dinner that this couple would hear that they looked so happy together that others want the secret to their marriage. If we live for Christ, if we treat our spouses as the Bible tells us to so that the joy we share is obvious, shouldn’t we want to tell everyone Who has given us that joy?
Psalm 79:13 says, “Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.” Let’s take every opportunity we are offered to do just that!