Does God want us to do the Wave?

From time to time I’ve heard grumbles that the enthusiasm shown to sports teams is not in turn shown by Christian for our faith.  We yell and shout when an athletic contest goes our way; we moan and wail when it does not.  Outside of the Charismatic movement, Christians rarely show such emotion for their Church.  Is that because we hold the Church less dear, or because the type of emotion that we heap on our beloved Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings is not what God requires of us?  The love that a fan shows for his favorite team(s) may be over-the-top at times, but it is also in many ways, shallow.  When our team isn’t playing, or during the long regular season, we often lose some of our interest.  We care more about games against heated rivals than against other foes.  We lose heart when our team stinks, and become fair-weather fans.  Yes, our passion boils over during a close playoff game, and we dance around like maniacs when our team wins a championship, (Indeed, how crazed would I be if the Lions win the Super Bowl; perhaps I’ll never know) but is this the sort of passion that the Church of God needs?

            The Church needs passion that works 24/7/365; passion that works when times are good and when times are bad.  God requires of us a changed LIFE, and not simply a burst of enthusiasm from 11:00 to 12:00 on Sunday.  If you want to get excited while at church, that’s fine with me, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’ve fulfilled your obligation to God.  It is on those quiet somber days that God requires the fire within us the most.  In acts of kindness when nobody is looking; generosity that costs me dearly, and love that endures through the mountain top and the valley.  I’m sure that God loves the guy who wears the rainbow wig and holds up the John 3:16 sign, but in the end, it’s the helping hand extended in love that shows where our true passion lies.

Standing behind the Pulpit

An unexpected thing happened to me this past Sunday.  I was sitting up in the front of the church, during the opening prayer, scripture, and songs, when I began to feel the need to say something.  I knew that my sermon was approaching soon, and I didn't feel that I could go forward with preaching the Word of God until I had cleared something up.  There was a problem between myself and one of my congregation, something that I had apologized for in person earlier, but something that was known to others as well.  Rather than allow some to wonder how I felt, or to hear about my actions secondhand, I decided to step in front of the alter and talk to my congregation directly.  Now before anyone gets any ideas; the problem revolved around a careless comment made on an earlier date, the kind of thing we all do from time to time, but a problem because of my unique role in shepherding this church. 
In the end, the short comment that I was intending to deliver evolved into about a ten minute rambling discussion of the ups and downs that we've seen as a church in my years there, as well as my hopes and fears for our future.  At one point, one of my senior saints decided to chime in with, "stop beating yourself up and start preaching".
It was a different sort of experience; I've known for years that my conscience becomes more keen when I'm going to be serving Communion, anything that has been lingering between myself and God gets cleared up, but this was the first time that I've felt the need to wait before giving my Sunday sermon.  It's a powerful thing to stand in front of others and tell them what the Word of God says, certainly not something to be taken lightly...