I’ll Try It Out Sometime
Because of the location of our house and my office, I get to see a lot of high school students walking to or from school. Maybe “trudging” would be a more accurate description — especially in the mornings.
It is not unusual for our paths to intersect when I am walking to or from my office or our house. Every time that happens, I say, “hello,” ask how their day has been, wish them well for the day, kid them about getting smarter every day, etc. I even get a response every once in a while — when they are not too much into the music that is being “mainlined” into their ears.
It happened again recently. I was walking from the house to the office and met a young girl who was walking to school. We exchanged greetings (in spite of the wires hanging out of her ears). I asked her if she lived close by and she said her home was a few blocks away.
It was at that point that I asked her to worship with us. I’m still thinking about her response:
“I’ll try it out sometime.”
The way she shrugged her shoulders and the fact that she had to work her response around yet another bubble she was blowing, didn’t add a great deal of legitimacy to that response. But who knows? Maybe she was serious about “trying us out.” I am praying that she was.
However, at the same time, I’m wondering if her statement is not indicative of how many view the whole concept of religion. For many, it may merely be just something to try out. If it doesn’t “fit,” or suit one’s needs, it can be discarded in favor of something more appealing and satisfying.
The problem with that thinking may, in fact, be found in one word — religion. “Religion,” in itself, is not necessarily a bad word. James wrote in both a positive and negative vein about religion. In the space of two verses, he wrote about a vain, worthless, or useless religion and about a religion that is pure and undefiled.
It is not that the word is bad. What is bad is the thinking that religion is only something we do from time to time.
How about some words that more accurately describe what pleases the Lord? How about words like “commitment,” “servant,” and “sacrifice?” How about the whole concept of Jesus being Lord (with everything that Lordship entails)?
It’s beginning to sound like we’re talking about a lifestyle instead of a fad. It sounds more and more like the purpose of our existence is to please Jesus and glorify Him and His Father instead of pleasing ourselves.
I wonder how many are willing to try that out — all the time.
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Photo background credit: Ethan Hickerson on Creative Commons
