What are you here for?


Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace. –Eugene O’Neill


When you go to church on a Sunday morning, how do you decide where you’re going to attend?

Do you choose the church because it’s where you have always attended? Because your whole family always goes there?

Is your church of choice the biggest one in town? The one with the jazziest music? The place that makes you feel good, and has Fair Trade coffee? The one where you can “come as you are”?

Are you going because the guest preacher that morning has a shiny white smile, and tells you exactly what you already knew and believed, anyway? (Isn’t it ironic? It seems often God likes and dislikes exactly the same people we do!)

Where are your friends attending this week? Is that where you’ll show up, as well?

What is wrong with all these snapshots? What (or who) is missing?

Yep. In every one of these scenarios, Jesus is missing. The one in whom we theoretically place all our trust, whom we profess to follow with our hearts and our lives, often doesn’t even make the Top Ten Reasons we choose a church on any given Sunday. But here’s a news flash: If you’re not hoping to find God, wherever you worship, you might as well sleep in until lunch. All those other things? You can find them most anywhere. Sometimes, they even stand between you and Jesus.


Monday How long have you been at your current church? What brings you back every week? 
Joel 2:23-24

Tuesday When you take a trip, do you seek out a place to worship while away from home? What is your primary criteria? Psalm 65:1-7

Wednesday You love your church—right? So when was the last time you invited a friend to come with you? What’s holding you back? Psalm 65:8-13

Thursday Do you consider yourself a member of a particular denomination, such as Methodism? What first led you that direction? Ever considered changing? Joel 2:25-32

Friday Was there ever a period in your life when you wanted nothing to do with church? (Maybe you are there right now?) Do you remember why—and how that turned out? Psalm 84:1-7

Saturday As you pray for yourself today, ask yourself who (or what) you worship in life. Be honest. Have you hitched your wagon to an imperfect Star? Luke 18:9-14

Sunday Enjoy one another’s company. Remember the reason for gathering in God’s house, first and foremost, is to seek God wherever God may be found. Then go enjoy lunch with friends. After worship! J Jeremiah 14:7-10

We worshiped Jesus instead of following him on his same path. We made Jesus into a mere religion instead of a journey toward union with God and everything else. This shift made us into a religion of “belonging and believing” instead of a religion of transformation.” –Fr. Richard Rohr


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