Keepin It Private

When I ask people what they think of church, I get some pretty diverse answers. I want to talk about one of those answers I get: "Church/religion is a private matter, and what I believe is between me and God." I agree with this statement, but I believe that private religion without public proclamation is missing something, and the something missing is no little thing.

When I used to come across something I believe that God was saying to me in my personal and private devotional time, it would be moving, but it can also be quickly excused. I may feel something, but I would almost immediately start to question the source - is it just me? I start to wonder if I am talking myself into thinking God is speaking to me at all, or am I just overly projecting into the text or the devotional I am reading? Then I would go to church, and the message would speak to the exact topic I was feeling convicted about. It was powerful. And I’m know I am not alone in this experience.

Often times, and actually just about each week, someone will approach me and marvel that the sermon touched on a subject they were already considering or grappling with—whether harboring unkind thoughts, claiming a promise of God, disrespecting parents or dealing with some area or issue of struggle. In His providence, God has a way of orchestrating preaching and private devotionals to work together. This is amazing when it happens. I realized there were were two ways that I would not feel like God had spoken to me at a weekend service: either I was distracted (I have heard this before or something happens during church), or I just wasn't there.

As much as distractions can and will happen, if I am at church, I am at least putting myself in a position where God's voice is being proclaimed publicly. If I decide I can't make it that day, it is really hard to hear something from somewhere I am not, right? Simply put: when you’re not attending church, you can’t experience this. You gotta be there to be able to hear Him there. It's not the only place and way that God speaks to us, but it is a place where He promises that He will speak:

...the Lord said to me, "Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so." Deut. 4:10 (ESV)

Gather, Hear, Repeat

In His grip,

Pastor Pat