Are You Bored With Your Faith

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. — Revelation 2:4 

Martie and I were attending church yesterday.  The service was great.  The pastor was spot on with his sermon. That is when I noticed a woman – older than 60 – surfing the web on her phone, looking at groceries, perhaps making a shopping list for Sunday dinner.  Now there could be any number of reasons why she was doing that – dementia comes to mind. Or it may have been that she was just not interested in the sermon.  I most often see that behavior with teenagers who most probably are being made to sit with their parents and they want the world to know that they could care less.  A saying I have used very often is “You can make me do it, but you can’t make me like it!” 

My point is that the woman reminded me of the times when I was bored with a Sunday morning service.  The problem was not really the service, it was my heart.  Cell phone with access to the outside world are an anathema (curse) when they are carried into a worship service.  They enable our ADD and tempt our attention to focus on something other than the reason we are gathered together. I am not railing against technology. I am attempting to describe a problem in the Church – the Body of Christ.   

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus said this to the Church of Ephesus: 

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” – Revelation 2:2-5 

There have been times when my heart has grown cold toward the routines of my faith; reading the Word, prayer, worship. I may not have been surfing the web on my phone, but my mind has wandered and although my body was physically in the pew, my mind and heart were in another place.  That is an indication of a spiritual struggle.

When I have spoken in churches in the U.S., very often I am given the admonition not to go past 12:00 noon. My conclusion is that at 11:45, many people that attend church are more concerned with the meat in the oven at home than the meat of the Word being served from the pulpit.  Their minds and hearts have already shifted to what is going to happen next. We are willing to give God a couple of hours, but the rest of the time is ours.  It is like offering a blemished sacrifice, thinking that it will just have to do.  

One thing I know – if I struggle with this, then it is common to man.  The solution is simple but oh so difficult.  Jesus said, “Repent.”