Imagine you are sitting in church on a Sunday morning, and you are deep in worship as the message is being taught. Suddenly, some unthinking person is edging his way in front of you and others, tripping over knees and purses as he heads to the bathroom. It is much like the annoying one who does the same at a movie theater and yet we get riled up when it disrupts our movie, but we would often consider ourselves unchristian if we were to act disturbed by this selfish act.
On the other hand, we can sit three hours holding our bladders as the sights and sound of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy thrills us, but for an hour to and hour and a half church service, we seem to have weak kidneys.
How about the woman who is convinced that she cannot make it through the service without her "legal addictive stimulant." Why do people need coffee during a church service? Should it not be the passion and desire to worship and learn about God that keeps us awake and alert? Could it be the two hour Saturday night movie of the week, that you probably should not have watched last night, that has made you tired for God this morning or perhaps it is simply a lack of desire to be awake for God.
As a teacher I ran into the problem that students constantly wanted to take trips to the restroom. It was very disturbing to the class and so I instituted the rule that the bathroom disappears when class begins, and reappears when class ends. To this day, I have never had a student wet himself.
The problem in both of these instances is selfishness. We have made church about us. The Pilgrims and the Puritans would sit for many many hours on a Sunday, on very hard wooden benches in an effort to make the focus of their time about the Lord and not themselves.
Drink your coffee before the service, then go to the bathroom, then enter the worship service or the classroom with God and others in mind.
Get over yourself.
A Blank Canvas
13 years ago
