In Toastmasters, we have a term, "paper members." As you could guess, it refers to people who are members on paper of a club, but they seldom or never attend. It occurs to me churches have paper members, too. In fact, some who attend every week could also be called paper members.
Now, before you get the feeling I'm pointing my finger at you, let me tell you for sure and certain I have been a paper member. I have no room to judge.
Some people who are members but don't attend church have good reason--they are disabled and cannot drive or walk to church and no one has given them a ride. Some maintain a membership in a church, but now live in a different city--although I would hope they would find a church there, too.
Why do I consider it so important to attend church? Or synagogue, if you prefer. Speaking from experience, pulling away from church leads to pulling away from God. And vice versa, I might add.
Multiply your action by everyone else in church. What if everyone decided to leave? Who would teach the children about how much God loves them? Who would tell folks about Jesus and how He loved everyone enough to die for them?
But then--who would even miss it?
Paper faith. I hope I won't ever be there again. It's such an empty feeling. Lord, grant that I might make the words I write on paper (or on the internet) real in my own life so that I shine enough to light others' ways to You.
2 comments:
Great reminder! God doesn't want our Christianity to be something we do, but something we are, thus to "shine" on others. I'm afraid sometimes when we "sign on" with God we don't give Him our commitment as well. In light of what He has done for us, we can at least be faithful to Him and make sure we prove it in our priorities - one way to show this is to attend worship. I agree - I don't want paper faith.
Thanks, Paula--I don't want my faith to be made of paper, either.
God bless!
Anne
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