Voting with My Feet

Ironically, this post was first published January 24, 2020, just a few weeks before the global pandemic changed everything for everyone. During those dark and bewildering days, our fellowship experienced life as a fragmented body, when we were unable to gather for worship. I am so glad those days are over.

I used to love morning parking lot duty when I was a teacher. I enjoyed greeting the students as they came in, learning new names, cajoling and joking with them.

Most of them were in no mood for jokes, of course. It was morning, and they were trudging into the school building, where they would sit all day listening to teachers. Can’t blame them for being glum.

All the more reason, I thought, to brighten their day with a little banter. (I sometimes had to remind myself of the proverb: “Do not greet your neighbor too loudly in the morning or he will count it as a curse,” Prov 27:14.)

Fast-forward to my present role as a pastor.
 
Now I am standing in the door on a Sunday morning, greeting people as they come in.

But as I watch folks coming into the church building, I notice a significant difference. In my teacher days, those kids had to come to school whether they wanted to or not. Everything in our culture is arrayed to encourage and require students to attend school, to get an education. Their association is mandatory, not voluntary. That’s why they are trudging.

But these people streaming into church on Sunday morning are coming because they want to be here.

There are dozens of other things people could do with their Sunday mornings. They could sleep in. They could run errands. They could take a walk in the woods.

And it is true that a man can pray wherever he is, a woman can read her Bible at Starbucks, and it is a wonderful thing to enjoy the goodness of God in nature.

But one thing we can’t do alone – home in our beds, praying by ourselves, reading our Bible alone, walking in the woods – one thing we cannot possibly do alone is gather with the people of God.

The people who come into the building on Sunday morning have decided to forego all those other Sunday morning options and give those hours to gather with the people of God and celebrate the goodness of God.

People coming to church on Sunday morning are “voting with their feet.”
 
They will sing their worship, they will worship in prayer and in hearing God’s Word being taught and preached, and they will fellowship with one another.

But their first act of worship was getting out of bed, getting dressed, and coming to church. The act of coming into the building and gathering with God’s people is in itself an act of worship.

Sure, they’re still sinners. They all bring with them their anxieties and fears, their conflicts and sins, their heartaches and burdens.

That couple may have had a fight on the way to church and spoken sharply to one another.

But they come.

That woman might be vain and anxious about her appearance.

But she comes.

That man might be coming out of mixed motives: partly to worship God but mostly to keep peace at home.

But he comes.

That family with small children may be ten minutes late because their son couldn’t find his left shoe.

But they come.

That couple might be reeling from the devastating news they heard last week from their doctor or their daughter or their financial counselor.

But they come anyway.

They gather, and they worship together with the people of God.

Discipleship is never just about Jesus and me.
 
Jesus died to make us part of the family of God, to make brothers and sisters out of men and women who would otherwise be strangers.

These are the people we need to be with. Some would love to be with us but cannot, but for all of us who can come, we must not neglect the opportunity – and the duty – to “vote with our feet” in favor of being together.

We’ll see you Sunday!

In light of this topic, I want to recommend a new book, Sunday, by Paul David Tripp, a collection of 52 meditations designed to prepare hearts and families for Sunday worship. If there is sufficient interest, I will purchase copies of this title for our Discipleship Resource shelf.

Persevere,
Paul Pyle
Pastor of Discipleship