By:  Greg Arnold

This guy, we’ll call him Luke, walks into church for the first time at the age of 45.  He’s never really been involved in formalized religion, but overall you could paint him as a “good guy”.  He spends his time on the weekends helping his family and playing with his kids.  He coaches soccer, works 50 hours a week, keeps the lawn looking decent, and is one of those guys that always seems pleasant.  He’s got a few buddies he hangs around with and enjoys fishing and golfing but rarely has time for either.  But for the past year, he’s just been a little unsettled.  He hasn’t been able to put his finger on what has been gnawing at him, but he knows something needs to change. Maybe church is the place?

After settling in the service begins, the first song is about a man dying on the cross.  The second song is about bloodshed.  The third song is about kissing a guy on the cheek and loving him.  Luke is a little uneasy.  After singing, prayers are offered for sick, depressed, and dying people.  Then the pastor steps onto the stage and begins telling the stories of how bad people are… and that there’s no hope unless you get forgiven of sins.  He condemns men for drinking a beer, then begins preaching about missing church and how wrong it is to miss.  After 25 minutes of sledgehammers the preacher finally gives the upside:  ”Ask Jesus to forgive you and you are free”.

Everyone bows their head… and prayers for forgiveness are offered.  A final song is sung about going out into the world and telling people about Jesus.

Luke walks out… and never returns.  His view of Jesus is pretty heavy… and people are somber.  Statistics show that men are walking out of formalized church at an alarming rate.  I wonder why?

I’m certain that if you attend church, you will say that your church is much different than this.   Maybe so.  In my  own experience, I can say that I love my church… but it can get really heavy sometimes.  We all get lost in the mechanics of ritual, routine, and tradition… and sometimes lose focus of what happened when Jesus Christ came to earth to rid us of that burden.  In fact, the encounters that Jesus Christ had with church during his ministry were:  Cleaning it out and chasing out the money changers.  He sat in front of the leaders and was charged with crimes.  He preached on the hillsides and prayed on the mountain.  I’m not certain that He spent much time at all inside the walls… maybe I missed something.

Meanwhile… we continue our traditions, sing our songs, and gather.  You’ve heard the phrase… misery loves company.  That is wrong.  It should be miserable people love to be around miserable people.

If you are Luke… keep looking.  Church fellowships are valuable in filling that empty spot.  Find a gathering of people who aren’t downcast.  Find a group of believers who celebrate God’s gift of grace and are buzzing with excitement.  Connect to a group who spend their time together who are upcast.  Get to know those people who actually live like they believe Christ is alive.  Learn from those who believe that evil is present but is of no concern to them because Christ is in them.

Church: Listen to me.  Darkness CANNOT exist in the light. Evil is darkness… Christ is light.  If you have Christ in your life, evil can have nothing to do with you.  When you beat down your faithful people, your letting evil in the front door.  Don’t tell your people how bad they are… where’s the “good news” in that?

Luke sure wanted to see some joy.  I hope he finds a place that shows him how to fill that empty spot.
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