In the Bible Belt, a lot of Christians feel they must be in church every Sunday because it is Sunday. After all, it is what any upstanding believer does on Sunday; he/she goes to church. Don’t get me wrong. Nobody is more of an advocate of going and encouraging other believers to go to church than I am. What I have a problem with though is the belief that so many have that going to church fulfills their weekly Christian responsibility. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Going to church gives everyone a chance to increase their knowledge of what the Bible says, sing some songs of praise, hear some prayers offered, give them a change to give monetarily to God’s program, and last, but actually first in my opinion, to worship the Living God. So going to church profits the participant in many ways. Church prepares the believer to go into his/her world and live a Godly life.
Every Christian should realize that as they go to church each Sunday others around them are watching and paying attention. Other Christians, maybe even weaker Christians, are paying attention to what you do daily. Unbelievers that seldom if ever go to church are looking and paying attention to how you live daily, as well. Like it or not, once you accept Christ as Lord and Savior, your life is put on display for others to observe and evaluate.
So what are you to do? Well, one thing is to study your Bible, not so much to gain knowledge but to gain insight on how you are to live your life. Like it has been said so many times: others do not care how much you know, as much as they know how much you care. Your Christianity is put on the firing line of life every day. People are watching to see how you do it, to tell them how they need to do it. It comes down to living the Christian life daily, minute-by-minute. I like the way D. L. Moody put it: “A holy life will produce the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine.”
That thought is not original with D. L. Moody. Our Lord Jesus, Himself, taught the same idea 2000 years ago: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
Go out into your world and let your Christian actions show your Christian attitude! You may even find the abundant life is closer than you thought.
