I just saw an e-mail titled Church Attendance .... and it made me think...
I once was a regular in church at a small town congregation where everyone knew everyone else.
I knew many people who went to church every Sunday and every Christian Holy day... However, they were not always very "Christian" the rest of the week. I feel it is very fair to say that Church Attendance does not equate to living a Christian Life!
I have met many a person who never attends church and yet they are some of the most loving, kind, giving souls you could hope to meet. They keep HIM in their hearts every moment of every day.... That is Christian Living.
Church attendance is not necessarily a requirement to live a Christian life... Some people only show up on Sunday for show.
I spent many years at odds with Christianity because I could not justify the hypocrisy. I simply could not understand why anyone who went to church regularly would do some of the things I was seeing every other day but Sunday. I gradually drifted away from the church because it was so profoundly disgusting to me that people could claim to be Christians and then turn around and rob, cheat, and lie so easily.
I eventually came to realize that there was only one person I could change... Myself. In this realization, I discovered that if I were to make a difference it would only be by example. I was challenged again by my own demons. I could not be a Holy man if I, myself were living the same hypocrisy I had come to despise.
When I became an Ordained Minister, I did so with every intention of living fully in what I saw to be a Christian way. However, because I am human, I have sinned and erred in my ways. That is why, I, in good conscience cannot stand before a congregation and minister. I feel that while I may be able to minister to the individual, having been honest of my short comings first; I am unfit to preach to the masses. I work daily to be the Christian Minister I would go to worship with... But, until I am satisfied with my self, I will not set foot to the pulpit.
God allows us to be tempted as a test of faith. To live the Christian Life it is understandable that one would stumble and sin now and then. It is to be expected, we are not perfect, we are human.
However, to live a sinners life six days a week and show up on Sunday to sing the loudest and scream Hallelujah does not make a Christian.... Just Saying.... Glory be to God , praise HIM, and cherish those who follow him with TRUE FAITH, rather they attend church or not.... Reverend William Francis Martin.
