I find it fascinating how we have a different set of expectations and rules for the different venues of life. There are certain rules that we apply to our workplace and even sporting events that seem to be radically different than how we treat the church. Here are seven things that we do to the church that we would never do anywhere else;

1. We arrive late. To arrive late at work would be punishable. To arrive late at a football game would be to miss part of the experience. To arrive late at church means that “were probably not missing anything.”

2. The whole family stay at home if one member of the family is sick. We would never think about doing this on a workday and would rarely think about doing it - except in extreme cases - to miss a sporting event but it is routinely done when it comes to church.

3. We skip out because “we’re tired.” If you get in at 1 AM in the morning it is still mandatory to go to work the next day but it seems sort of onerous to have to go to church the next morning. And why were you up so late in the first place? Probably because the game didn’t get over at a decent hour!

4. We decide “that I’m just not going to get anything out of church today because of the way I feel.” I wonder how many times we apply that same logic to our workplace or to a sporting event but I hear it routinely applied to church.

5. We refuse to attend because of the “hypocrites.” Of course that doesn’t keep us away from the hypocrites at the stadium who are there for all the wrong reasons and that doesn’t keep us away from hypocrites at our workplace who aren’t pulling their weight but it sure keeps us away from those who might show up at church because somehow that’s going to be a big problem for us.

6. We just “get out of the habit” of attending. Except for the most irresponsible people I have never known anyone who just “got out of the habit” of showing up for work but I have met many people who use that excuse for church.

If you’re going to apply a set of rules to the church concerning your attendance, your giving and your involvement those rules should reflect the value and the glory of Jesus himself. The prophet Malachi (Malachi 1:6 – 9) tells God’s people to stop bringing unclean and sick sacrifices to the temple. He flat out tells them that God will not accept anything less than the best that they can give because it dishonors him. Are you honoring God with your best?