I GO TO CHURCH BECAUSE I WANT TO GO, NOT BECAUSE I FEEL I HAVE TOO

I have a nephew that is on a mission in Minnesota. Each week, the family gets an email from him talking about what he has been up to. He writes about some of the people at church and some who he is teaching, and always bears his testimony.


A few weeks ago he said something in his email that really struck me. He spoke of a member who explained to him about how he wants to be. The man said that he does not want to be just anyone who goes to church to check it off the to do list. This type of a person goes to church because they know they are suppose and that they don't want others to think bad of them. They just show up and then that's it. 


He explained how he wants to be that person who is excited to go to church. He is there because he wants to be there. That he is happy to smell cigarettes and alcohol; he looks for people who are truly sick (spiritually) and are in need of a "physician" and want to feel the love of God. He goes to church to be uplifted and seek guidance in his own life so that he can be of help to others.

One thing that has always bothered me is when people judge others. Now I'll have to say, I am no saint when it comes to anything. We all judge. But I try to think twice before I go judging others. I ask myself what I might do if I was in the same situation. I also think about whether or not I know the whole story. Many times when I have judged others, and then learn the rest of the story, I find that maybe what they did was not all that bad.  For example--years ago I was sitting in church just before services started and in came a family dressed in grubbies. They were not in their Sunday best; not even close. I remember thinking, "Wow..." Then I found out that they had just flown in late the night before. They had had flight problems, and their luggage had been lost. Boy, did I feel bad. Would I have even tried to go to church? Probably not. This family did not let that stop them. See there, I had jumped to conclusion before I knew the whole story. All of us do this, and all of us need to think twice before we go judging others.