That Empty Feeling

Scottish Audio version here

Isaiah 63: 17 Why, O LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance. (NIV)

One of the saddest sights that I see in ministry happens when people decide to no longer come back to church. It happens in every congregation that exists, but for different reasons. Sometimes people fall out with the pastor; at other times they fall out with the denomination; and there are other occasions when they just fall away for no apparent reason at all. They just fade quietly into the background and then they’re gone. Their spirits are empty of God and their hearts are hardened. Whatever faith they once experienced is all gone, used up, and diminished.

In Glasgow, Scotland, there’s a controversy brewing because the Presbyterian Church of Scotland is closing a church building that was built over the site of a sixth century church. People from Glasgow are protesting and citing family connections of their great-grandparents as reasons for keeping the church open. But the sad and realistic fact is this: if the people have stopped going to church, why keep it open? Sometimes the biggest hypocrites are those who are outside of the church who want to keep it open for all the wrong reasons.

A church has a life, a ministry, and a mission to accomplish – it’s a living organism. It’s not a building, a sacred sanctuary, or a treasure house of memories. Every church is a mission station, not a museum.

As society changes and our Christian culture become more irrelevant to our civilization, we must ask ourselves this question: are our churches empty because our spirits are empty? Are our churches being closed because our hearts are closed to God?

I think we know the answers.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, come into our hearts so that we may come into Your churches. Take away our pride and arrogance, so that we may humbly serve and worship You. Remind us that faith is not a leisure pursuit, but that it is an eternal lifestyle choice. Keep us mindful that our lives belong to You and that our souls are empty without You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.