PLAYOFFS AND PRIORITIES Reports from churches all over the state of Texas indicate that attendance at worship services (especially those beginning later in the morning were significantly down yesterday. In some parts of the state, there was some cold temperatures to deal with, but for the most part, the weather wasn’t the issue behind the drop in attendance. Most church leaders are convinced it was the Cowboys/Packers playoff game with a noon kickoff time. If this really is the case, than there are a lot of “church people” that need to reexamine their priorities. Without being legalistic about church attendance, the Bible makes it clear that believers are to make worshipping together a priority in their lives. The Bible puts in this way in Hebrews 10:25: “You should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing, but you should meet together and encourage each other. Do this even more as you see the day of Christ’s return coming.” The point of the passage is this: gathering together for worship must be a priority in the life of every believer in order for us to honor God and help each other. When we gather to worship, our purpose is to FOCUS on the Lord. All during the week, our lives are so focused on so many things besides the Lord. We deal with work, school, family, money – we live with stress, anger, fear and worry – and we often lose sight of what is truly important in life. And it is worship – FOCUSING ON GOD – that helps to keep our lives on track. So if we miss church – or dismiss church – we are NOT focused on the Lord. Now, let me make it clear – there are sometimes very valid reasons why we can’t attend church
– and God understands. When we have a job that prevents us from coming to church – that is a valid reason. When we are too sick to come (or someone in our family is too sick to come) – that is a valid reason. If we are out of town on business or vacation – that is a valid reason. If there is an unavoidable emergency – that is a valid reason. But if we choose to miss or dismiss church because we want to watch a football game – then WE have a huge problem. You see, how we invest our time is one of the biggest indications of what we truly value and believe is most important. Deuteronomy 14:23 says that “we should always put God first in our lives.” Luke 10:27 says that we are to “love the Lord with all of our hearts” So can you love God and football? Sure, but you should love God more. In fact, much much more. And therein is the problem with what happened on Sunday. A lot of people who say that they “LOVE” God, proved that they love football and the Cowboys just a little bit more. In light of eternity, does it really matter who won that playoff game? In terms of what we value as believers, should the Cowboys ever come before Christ? The answer to both of these questions is NO! So, if you chose to miss church because of a football playoff game, as your pastor I must ask you: What are your priorities? If you chose the watching the Cowboys over worshipping Christ, as your pastor I must ask you: Who do you love more? If boggles my mind that we put insignificant things about the most significant thing. It boggles my mind that so many people missed church to watch a football game – especially when most of us have DVR’s and could record the game from start to finish. And it especially boggles my mind that we say we love the Lord but allow so many things to come before Him in our lives. Let’s never again let football become more important than our faith and love the Cowboys more than Christ.