BY MICHAEL KLAUS
When our children were much younger, in order to go to preschool or even our church school at which I was elder, they had to have a complete immunization record from the pediatrician. We made sure that all the doctors’ visits were made and shots were taken, even when shots were not fun. I believe most parents are like this. We would never ever consider doing anything that might harm the health of our children. If we did, we would be shunned by even our closest friends. “What? You have not taken your child to the doctor for three months, six months or even in a year?” This would be inconceivable!
But you would rarely get anyone to say… “You have not had your children in church for months but at cheerleading camp or band camp or any other activity. How dare you hurt your children that way?” You know why you don’t hear it? Because somehow church attendance by mom and dad and grandma and grandpa has become just something we get around to. Church will be there if we want to go. No one ever says it hurts the spiritual growth of you and your family. But it does! I have been in full-time ministry since 1991 and have had many of these conversations where the father (Spiritual leader) chooses to have his children in a long commitment to a sport and not even blink about saying “see you in the fall.” My heart aches every time I have one of these conversations. I have cried.
The Christian writer Grayson Gilbert shares my feelings. He writes, “I believe the New Testament teaches (Hebrews 10:24-25) that our time together as believers in formal, corporate worship, is to be one of the most precious things we partake in as Christians. I believe that regular attendance is so important that it reveals our hearts and priorities.”
My kids are pretty much grown now, but last Sunday my daughter was next to me in service and I was filled with joy as she worshipped God standing next to me with her Christian husband.
I know that blessing today comes from the struggle when she was 11 and we were on vacation and got up and went to church on the Lord’s days while others we love were on the boat with their families, but we were in church. Faith is given as example every Sunday.
See you Sunday,
Your happy preacher
(Michael Klaus is minister at First Christian Church, Elizabethton)