“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:16-17
We all can use some work when it comes to our spiritual walk. I as the pastor have no special formula in my life that makes me more spiritual than another; I dare say based on what I know about myself, there are people in our church and elsewhere that live a more spiritual life than I do!
But, with that said, let’s take one particular thought and see how we stand. Every Sunday morning, hundreds of people walk through the doors of their church. We all seem to put on our best when it comes to our behavior and thoughts; we each though will typically bring something with us that needs work – our attitude, our thoughts towards another, or maybe our words spoken throughout the week. No one walks in with sinless perfection!
Regardless, we try to be our best when we come to the house of God! While we are there, we try to maintain (or achieve) a clear conscience, a positive attitude, and a spirit of reverence to our Lord and Savior. I dare say that we are probably at our best when we are at church. Our Scriptures from Colossians 3 encourages us (or commands us) to always have the words and thoughts of Christ as our guide and then when we do so, our actions and words are to be done for Him. Our everyday life is included in that “whatsoever” just as much as our church life is (where we seem at our best).
So wait a minute… if we are to live a life by the Words and teachings of Christ and, we are supposed to do everything in word and deed for Him, and, when we are in church, we seem to have that as our goal, would it not go without saying that being together in church and being in His presence on Sunday morning (and any other times) “makes” us “act” more like a Christian? While that is a good thing, it is also a sign of the double life we may live. Church attendance is vital to the spiritual well being of a Christian; I believe we have proved that through the first part of this “blog”. But, our Christian walk and talk should not end (or be an act) or be put on pause when we exit the doors and enter back out into the secular realm of our life. We can’t feasibly be in church everyday all day but I believe it goes without saying that placing ourself in an environment such as Sunday morning service moves us to live out what Christ desires for our lives.
As the pastor, I have a front row seat to the attentiveness, emotion, and reactions of the people when singing, when in prayer time, fellowship time, preaching time, and at the altar call. I see the faces of the people and I witness their expressions and tears. I see the best in people on Sunday and Wednesday; I see what I believe Christ desires for us be – in touch with Him.
We can and should remain in touch with Him through our body, soul, and spirit regardless of where we are; being in His presence in church helps us do that but we have to guard heavily against “changing back” to something we’re not once we leave the doors. I’ve argued the point of church being vital to our Christian walk but, more importantly, I may have argued the point of the double life we may live as well. We should be who we are in Christ all the time and in “whatsoever” we do no matter our physical location. Let’s not live two lives. Ask yourself this question – would Jesus “sign off” on all my words and deeds throughout the week (and even on Sunday)? “And do all in the name of the Lord Jesus…”. Oh my!