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“Go To Church”
Each month, the pastors from Longboat Key and St. Armand’s Circle meet together. The purpose? I’m not sure a single purpose can be easily identified. I think each would likely define it in their own way, but after each meeting I attend, a purpose always surfaces, and I'm glad I attended. At times, I’m sure that each of us doesn’t want to attend for a variety of legitimate reasons, especially because it’s difficult to fit the meeting into our already overcrowded schedules. For instance, I didn’t attend last month because the meeting date landed ten days before Easter, and my hands were already too full to hold anything else. That was a mistake.
There’s no question that a gathering like this is healthy for those who attend. Each pastor has their own long list of people and tasks to care for, but rarely do we care for ourselves as we should.
A gathering of like-minded people who understand each other’s blessings and burdens can be helpful, especially when we think that we don’t need it or don’t have the time to do it.
This can easily be viewed as a metaphor for the Church. All my life, I’ve met people who have told me they don’t need or want church. Sometimes, their comments arise out of legitimate reasons, some of which are birthed by a pain caused by a church or church-related people in the past. These pains and issues don’t just disappear when one attends a church, but one thing is for certain: People at church understand it because they are bearing some of the same issues. Just as I (and the other pastors on the islands) can come up with our own legitimate reasons to not attend a friendly meeting once per month, everyone else can come up with their own reasons why they don’t attend a church on a regular basis.
One trick to overcoming our reasons not to attend (a pastor’s meeting or church, take your pick) is to decide that we (you and I) don’t always know what’s best. Sometimes, we need someone else to make that decision for us (like God) and then respond, even if we don’t want to. Remember our parents used to make us take piano, go to church, do our homework, and all that other stuff? How many of us wish we had done MORE of that stuff? How many of us wish we had flossed regularly and paid more (and better) attention to certain people when we had the chance?
Church is an hour per week. That’s simple to accomplish if we make it a priority. Especially during the summer months (when some people say they are taking a vacation from church), attending worship at least once per week can make all the difference in the world.
Go to church! Come to the Chapel! Whether you attend online or in person, we’ll be looking for you!
God Bless,
Brock
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