The Disconnect

I can see how the disconnect can easily happen.  A few weeks ago I was sick, the sickest I have been in my 46 years of living.  I had some sort of infection in my chest that pretty much made my entire body ache, even my eyeballs.  Due to the illness I missed church on Sunday. 

In the last 20 years I can probably count on four fingers how many times I’ve missed church due to illness.  Even when we go on vacation we usually find a church to attend on Sunday morning.  Why?  Because corporate worship, getting together with other believers and worshipping God is a priority in our lives because of what we learn from scripture.  Do we attend out of a legalistic view?  No.  We attend because we love being around other believers with a focus on praising God.

So one Sunday I’m sick.  The next Sunday we had a visit from hurricane Sandy.  Due to the tropical storm force winds and keeping safety in mind we did not have our worship gatherings.  I can only remember twice in my life where I didn’t go to church because of weather. 

This past Sunday was back to normal.  We woke up, got ready and went to church to worship with our church family (remember that word cause I’ll talk about this later).  I felt like had not been to church in months.  I clicked in my head that this is where the disconnect with many believers happens.  Honestly I didn’t like the feeling.  I know it was only two Sundays but what if this past Sunday we woke up and all three kids were throwing up?

In my years of serving as a pastor and on church staff I have witnessed many church members who miss a Sunday here and there, then miss a few Sundays in a row, then it dawns on me that I don’t know where they are and I haven’t seen them in months.

The disconnect starts when there are multiple weeks in a row where a believer hasn’t gathered with their church family (there is the word again).