is sunday church really necessary, and what about holidays?

One of the tough things about ministry in the burbs is the competition with all the other "stuff" happening out there.  Some of the symptoms of this "stuff" overload are:

1) Chronic lateness to Sunday morning service
2) Missing church altogether because of sports, vacations, family events, etc.
3) Missing church on major holidays because of school vacation schedules etc.

Some people (and churches) have worked around this attending services offered by churches on alternate days or times.  But what about churches that don't have the resources or the luxury for multiple services?  And what about the whole "on time" thing, although I don't think that just effects suburban churches (but I may be wrong). 

So the question goes, is it so important to be on time for Sunday morning service (and I'm talking about Christians here, it seems non-believing visitors are more punctual than their believing friends who invited them) or to be at your local home congregation on Easter or Christmas?

Well, I guess the first question I would ask is, is there a bigger question?  Like what do our habits say about our faith and our relationship with God and the state of our hearts?  Do we treat other people the same way, always being late, making other excuses for not spending time with them. 

Take for instance Easter.  This year Easter fell on the first Sunday of the Spring break for many schools systems.  As I talk with other pastors it seems very common for many families to be gone on vacation on Easter.  And we're not talking about nomial Christians or fringe families, we're talking about some of the leadership of the church.  Now to be fair, they might have fellowshiped at another church on Easter Sunday, or attended Good Friday or Easter services on Saturday, but they weren't at their home church on Easter Sunday.  Is it that important?  Is Easter just another Sunday like any other Sunday?

Well, let me give you a hypothetical situation.  What if your best friend was passing by your burning car on the freeway and he stopped and rescued your wife who is in the front seat, and your child who is in the back seat of the car.  In the process of rescuing your family your friend is badly burned and eventually dies of the injuries he received.

The year after he has passed away, you go to his gravesite, and pay your respects to this heroic friend who saved the most precious people in your lives.  You do this for a few years, because your really appreciate what your friend has done, and you don't want to forget about it.  But over time, the memories fade, your family has grown, you don't think about what your friend has done so much.  Other schedule conflicts arise, you start to make excuses for why you can't stop and even pause to think about your friend and give thanks for what he's done.  Eventually, the date of your friends passing is no more significant than any other day of the year. 

Now the parallel is a bit unfair.  The celebration of Easter is not just a remembering and appreciating an enormous sacrifice someone has made.  Easter goes way beyond that, because Jesus is alive!  And not only that, we're supposed to be having an ongoing relationship with Him!  We worship a living God, he is not dead, he has risen!  So how do you think Jesus feels if you spend Easter vacationing with your family?  Well, he's probably gracious and will still receive you, but on the other hand, what does missing celebrating Easter with your church family do to your soul, your spiritual life, your relationship with Christ?

As  a church leader, I must confess, I'm grieved by this situation.  I'm sure Christ is grieved as well.  Do we as church leaders say anything about this?  If we care about the people we minister to, we must, and if THEY ARE part of the church leadership, even more important to challenge people in how they spend their time.  I'm not against people going on vacation during their children's school breaks, but is it sooo vital that they leave right away?  Could they not push their vacations off until after celebrating Easter  (or Christmas), or return early to celebrate (depending on the schedule)?

What do you think?

Hijacking the Brain -- How Pornography Works

This is a really good article about how porn hijacks the male brain.  I like Mohler's take on it, it doesn't give males an excuse for the behavior, we're all responsible for our own sins, but at least we know the mechanisms behind the behavior.

Hijacking the Brain -- How Pornography Works