"Searching the Scriptures and Seeking the Lost"

We all enjoy modern day conveniences.  Now that many grocery stores are open all night, there is not a hour of the day that is not convenient for making a shopping trip.  Drive-thru dry cleaners, restaurants and  pharmacies have spoiled us to wanting everything now.

            Sometimes, that attitude can spill over into the church.  While it is not wrong to expect a drive-thru hamburger, it is wrong to expect drive-thru religion.  Too many times, convenience in religious matters often equals taking a short cut.  Does God approve, particularly in worship, of our taking short cuts so that things are more convenient for us?  Of course, the answer is no!  Cain’s failure to offer what God required was a result of Cain trying to make it easier on himself.  Since he was a farmer (Gen. 4:2), crops would have been far more convenient for Cain to offer than livestock.  Did God reward Cain for his ingenuity?  Did God praise Cain for being industrious and finding a more convenient way to worship?  Did God approve of Cain’s alteration?  The answer, of course is no!

            There are a lot of modern-day alterations than men make to their worship routines when they are out of town.  Some do not go at all, some only go one service and some decide to have their own worship services (in their hotel rooms, at a friend’s house or in their cars).  It is the latter of these practices that we want to discuss for the remainder of our time.  Does God approve of us having our own service rather than gathering with other saints?

            Truth be told, if we are in town, the thought of having our “own” service is given little thought.  Very rarely have you ever heard someone reason this way: “I really would like to go to shopping this Sunday afternoon.  What I can do is attend services this morning and have a devotional in the car on the way home from the mall this evening.”  If we are in town and near our home congregation we all feel (and rightly so) the need to be there worshiping with our brethren.  Yet, when we are out of town, that feeling seems to escape the minds of some.  Consequently, many will reason in this fashion: “If we have our own devotional here in the room, we can get an earlier start as Six Flags or we will not have to miss the first two innings of the ball game.”  Can’t you just hear the drive-thru mentality in such a statement.  I know I need to worship, but it would be more convenient for me to worship now rather than later, so I will willingly not go to the local services of the Lord’s church and just have my own.

            God has never approved changes in our worship requirements based strictly on convenience.  Many assume that God will not care or maybe that He will not even know.  Those at home might not, but God is aware and He will hold us accountable for demoting His place in our schedule and our hearts for secular, worldly events.

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