I’ve always said that to enjoy the fullness of our relationship with God we need to make Jesus the center of our life and His church the center of our lifestyle. Those two things go hand in hand.  However, I see that in the world in which we live it seems making His church the center of our lifestyle has become less and less important.

 

                At my advanced age of 67 I can still remember when stores were closed on Sundays and even in many smaller towns they closed early on Wednesdays, too.  There were no sporting activities, including practices. Gracious….if a coach scheduled a Sunday practice the parents would have his head!  Church “dinners on the grounds” were cause of excitement and folks stayed for a couple of hours, eating and fellowshipping.  Sunday School “socials” were special and well attended.  The church in many ways was the center of community and neighborhood activity.  What happened?

 

                Many would say that our culture changed.  While that is true let me remind you that we are the culture.  Culture doesn’t change us because we change the culture.  Our culture reflects who we are.  We, the church, are reaping what we sowed. The sad fact is that the overwhelming majority of Christians are quite satisfied with the status quo. Sunday is a day of recreational and normal activity because we want it that way.  Honestly, with the number of professed Christians in our nation we could have stopped the lava flow of change at several points.

 

                So, what is the answer? We are certainly not going back to the “days of yore”.  Be the Christian voice of change.  Christians need to stand up and be strong.  We may not win every cultural battle, but we will not win any if we do not fight.  Paul gives us guidance as he says “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 2:1,5).  I especially like this last phrase::   “Make the most of every opportunity”.

 

Bro. Tony