Have you ever been in a situation or a point in conversation where you know, with all certainty, that the individual that you are currently in dialogue with is simply just doing “this” (whatever “this” might be – perhaps coffee or a movie) or is saying something simply to appease you? They truly don’t care about your circumstance in which you are sitting to discuss, truth be told they have made this brief window of time available to hopefully, again, appease you and perhaps rid themselves of the burden (better known as you). Inside you know this and are completely aware but you ignore it and continue on, in fact at the conclusion of them fulfilling “this” act that has brought no more joy to them then any other duty they feel required to complete over the course of their day you BOTH look at each other and say how much you enjoyed it and how, “We must do this again soon…”
I think we have all been perhaps in the situation one way or another, ourselves either appeasing or the ones being appeased. Perhaps you didn’t mean to make that person feel that way and you genuinely were busy and your mind was elsewhere. However, we make people feel like they are a hinderance when we continue to look at our watch, tap our fingers, and make motions towards departing from the seat where we have only sat for a moment but for what feels like an eternity. I wonder how many times I have managed to not just make others feel like this (tho certainly unintentional one would hope) but how many times I have made God feel as such? Read the following pieces from Matthew…
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain…” (English Standard Version)
“These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they’re worshiping me, but they don’t mean it.” (The Message)
Talk is cheap, I don’t really appreciate “lip service”. And I would not dare to speak for Him, but I imagine God doesn’t either. It really astounds me how we can gather corporately once a week as a “body of believers” in a “building” to celebrate and worship The One whom we claim to be in such deep and intimate “relationship” with and then not grab on to the moments during our week to emulate and imitate Him. We seem to take Him out for coffee in a sense and hope that it keeps him appeased until next week as we have little time we can give or devote to Him over the week to come. Even more frustrating perhaps would be how we treat the time we have with Him, like mentioned earlier, we stare at our watch, sigh heavily at every point made by the pastor as we know that surely that adds another 5-10min to the length of this “coffee date” that subconciously you are communicating through your actions and body language you can’t wait to get out of. He died for you, don’t treat him like a burden sitting across the table from you!
I’ve heard it said, as I’m sure you have to, that sitting in church makes you no more a “Christian” then sitting in ones garage makes you a car. Go ahead try it, you can even make all the noises and car sounds and still…you’re NOT a car. We can make all the “Christian” noises and sounds (quote the Text and pray the prayers) but that does NOT make you a Christian. Simply sitting for an hour or two, depending on how long winded the pastor may be that particular morning, does NOT make you a Christian. Knowing the words to every song, does NOT make you a Christian. Telling someone what you think they need to hear when they come to confide in you does NOT make you a Christian…I would suggest and make the argument that what you do when no one else is watching is what truly makes you a Christian. What it is you put your hands, time, voice and money to OUTSIDE of that two hour window on Sunday morning will truly define you as a Christian. I think there are MANY people who are interested in “Christian Faith” but have been turned off by “Christianity”…
