It has always been a little odd in my book that churches would cancel services due to extreme weather. In a very practical way it makes sense because some people who try going to church even with 5 feet of snow and end up in the ditch or with a broken hip. But since when is Christianity a practical religion?
We continually rely on Christ for protection and blessing, why wouldn't He protect us on Sunday morning? That being said, pretty much every church in the area was canceled yesterday morning. Some still held their late morning/early afternoon services. It was probably a pretty smart decision because at 8:30 our road still hadn't been plowed and there was a nice layer of ice covering everything as well. I would have still tried to make it to church!
On a similar note our student ministries pastor was traveling home Saturday evening from a trip to Wisconsin and arrived home 5 hours later than expected. He's a few years younger than me, but was seriously contemplating just stopping and getting a hotel. He had been praying for safety and really started praying again for protection and safety, when he made the next turn he "ended up" right behind a snow plow which he was able to follow for 2 hours!! In his own words: Without that, I don't know what would've happened. But it's cool to see God even in crazy stuff like a snow plow, I knew He was watching out for me and got me home safe.
What do you think about canceling church?
4 comments:
I agree with you about God's protection, but I also believe that God has given us a brain for a reason :-) Jesus even said "do not tempt the Lord thy God" when the devil tried to convince Him to kill Himself, with the reasoning that God wouldn't actually allow Jesus to die. I think that some churches cancel their services b/c they know that some people are going to try to make it no matter what the weather is like, if there's a service. So the leadership of a congregation decides that in order to protect the flock, it's better to just cancel the service. Now, I also know of a congregation in the small community that I'm a part of that WILL NOT cancel a service no matter how bad the weather is, but they also make it perfectly clear to the entire congregation, that if the weather's too bad for them to come to church, then no problem. They don't need to risk it. It's no biggie.
Well, when you think of church not being about the building, but more about fellowship, I don't have a problem cancelling Sunday morning service. I could show up every Sunday to service, but miss what it means to worship. I sort of cancel church in my own way everyday, like when I spend more time on the computer than time with God (hmmm, like now).
That is an excellent point Carol, thanks for pointing that out, I definitely missed that perspective!
Rhea, Thanks for your thoughts, I agree with you, we must use our brains every now and then!
Post a Comment