When I say that we need to put away mammon and turn back to God, I can hear the objections already. And I get it. Mammon is fun.
It's fun to be part of a travel team, even if that team plays on Sundays. It's fun to get your buddies together and go to the game or to the racetrack, even if that means leaving church a little bit early. It's fun to take a day trip to the amusement park and make memories with the kids; they probably would have forgotten that Bible lesson anyway.
Mammon seems like all the stuff that makes our lives feel full.
And I'm not going to go all hard-core here and say that we should only do church activities; we live in the world, and we are meant to live in the world, and we are meant to participate in our lives and be a witness in the world and we can't do that if we're not part of the things that are going on around us.
The problem is when we fill our lives with the world and then try to squeeze God into them. The problem is when we reach the point that we're willing to give up church - church activities, worship services, Sunday school, youth group trips, senior outings, fellowship opportunities - for the things we've bought into in the world and we are not equally (or more) willing to give up the things we've bought into for church (and church activities, etc.).
If you're more willing to hang out with your buddies drinking beer than you are to hang out with your small group, that's a problem. If your kids never miss a game, but miss church for four months in a row, that's a problem. If you've got season tickets and you're never in the pew instead of the stands, that's a problem.
What it says is - I'm willing to give up God for some fun in the world, but I'm not willing to give up my fun for a closer relationship with God and His people.
We use all kinds of things to justify this. The church isn't a building or a place or a time; it's the people. But if you're not with the people in the place at the time, then you're losing a big chunk of your argument. The church is the people, not the person. You are not the church by yourself.
We say that we paid money for whatever we have from the world, and we don't want to waste our investment. But do you also give money to the church? Are you wasting that investment? Have you given your heart to Jesus? Are you wasting your opportunities there?
We say that others are counting on us, that we committed to be part of something and if we're not there, we're letting everyone else down by our absence. Hate to break it to you, but you're letting me down when you're not at church, too. The church depends on your presence - your talents, your fellowship, your encouragement. People miss you when you're not there, and it's a very real loss.
So none of our excuses hold water. They're just that - excuses. They're just what we say when we're not willing to say that we chose mammon over God.
And just as a side note - if the world is more "fun" to you than God, then you haven't met God. It makes me really sad to hear folks justify their double-mindedness by saying that God just doesn't bring joy to their lives or make their lives feel full the way mammon does. If that's the case, you don't know God.
Anyway, rant over. Just some thoughts I wanted to share this week, as my heart was heavy with them.