Dear Person loitering in the foyer every Sunday,
You might think nobody notices, you might think it’s no big deal, and you probably have some really great excuses for why you rarely if ever join us in the sanctuary for corporate worship and the preaching of God’s Word. Before you jump into self-justification, rationalization, and mitigation of the circumstances, let me share with you from a pastor’s perspective. You see you’re not the first person that I’ve noticed loitering in the foyer. There’s been a long line of lobby loungers and vestibule vacationers and every one of them has a reason for being there.
- The sanctuary is too stuffy
- The child is too cranky
- A pressing phone call
- They have to leave early
- They got to the service late
- They’re preparing for children’s church
- They’re busy discipling someone
- They’re continuing a conversation that started before the service
- They have usher duty
- They have greeter duty
- They’re filling in for others
- They’re just making sure everything is under-control in the foyer
I’ve heard just about every excuse you can give but there’s one thing I know, there is no ministry, no activity, and no responsibility so important that it should keep you from regular participation in the Church’s most important worship and teaching time of the week.
If some ministry related responsibility is truly keeping you from the worship service then it’s a responsibility that is doing you more harm than good. Most likely you are over evaluating the need for your presence in that ministry. Hand it off to someone else for a while, if you can’t pass the responsibility on to someone else for at least a few Sundays then just put an end to the ministry until you have enough people to run it without forcing anyone to regularly miss the Sunday morning worship.
However, in my experience it’s rarely other church responsibilities that stop people from going through the doors of the sanctuary and joining the church. The rest of those excuses that I gave above, well, that’s just what they are, excuses. They’re trying to justify patterns of behavior that are spiritually unhealthy. I’m not saying that there aren’t occasions when you might have to duck out of the sanctuary for a bit. I have 5 kids and believe me there were times when I had to take them out of the service. However, it was never a habit but rather an exception to the rule of regularly being part of Sunday morning worship.
So what really keeps you out of the church service? I hate to break this news to you but when I see a person regularly coming to church and regularly avoiding being part of the congregation during worship and preaching I conclude one thing; he’s spiritually sick. I have yet to see an exception to this rule! It’s lack of spiritual desire and hunger for God’s Word, it’s a lack of devotion and eagerness for corporate worship, it’s the absence of an appetite for the things of Christ.
Think about this, do sports fans buy tickets to see their favorite team play and then spend the game sauntering around the parking lot or checking out every hotdog and hamburger stand? Of course not! They go in because they love that sport, they know the players names, they want to see the action, and they want to be part of the crowd cheering them on!
How could any healthy Christian come to church and not feel compelled to enter? How could someone who says he is a disciple of Jesus not want to be in the middle of teaching about Jesus, worship of Jesus, and fellowship of His followers?
For now you may be coasting along in your spiritual life and not yet see some of the consequences of your behavior. But continue with this bad habit and you will eventually come to a stop, you can’t avoid the spiritual harm you are doing to yourself. You will reap the consequences one way or another.
I know what you’re thinking,
“Hey, I’m doing just fine spiritually, I read my Bible and pray at home every day.”
Do I need to remind you that from day one the Church was about fellowship? They devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching and to Fellowship (Acts 2:42). They prayed together, they sat under the apostle’s teaching together, they broke bread together. Later the author of Hebrews tells us how important it is to make of habit of coming together.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Heb 10:24-25
Corporate worship isn’t primarily about you, it’s about Jesus and it’s about others. If you go to church with the attitude,
“Let’s see if I’ll get anything out of this,”
you won’t get anything out of it, at least not anything good! You’ll start to feel that the sermons are too simple or that they’re too theological, or too short or too long, or too many stories, or too boring, or too much yelling, or too little application, and the songs are too superficial, or too traditional, or too loud, or too quiet, or the musicians aren’t very talented, or the musicians are just trying to put on a show. You’ll find something in the service that doesn’t please your well-educated spiritual taste buds. You’ll be like a wine taster, swishing the sermon around in your mouth then spitting it out and proclaiming your expert opinion before going on to try out the church down the street.
Have you considered how your habit of foyer loitering affects others in the church? I’ve seen you distract others with whispers and nodding heads while everyone else is worshiping Jesus. If you really thought Jesus was in the sanctuary during the worship service would you be doing the same thing? I don’t want to ever be guilty of turning someone’s attention away from worshiping Jesus just because I have a funny story to tell them or some gossip to share, or a smart remark about the preacher’s sermon.
My wife and I have worked hard for years to get our children to recognize the vital importance of corporate worship and then they see people like you and wonder “If Mr. So and So sits out in the foyer during the service why can’t I?” Your absence in corporate worship affects others and it can be detrimental to some.
Dear friend I exhort you to take a serious spiritual inventory. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is really keeping me from joining the Church in corporate worship?
- How is my absence in corporate worship affecting others?
- How is my lack of corporate worship affecting me?
- What wrong ideas do I need to correct so that I can joyfully join the Church in worship?
- How can I minister to others through my presence in the worship service?
Finally, I ask that you not take offense at this letter. I write it because I am truly concerned for your spiritual well-being and I know that without corporate worship and teaching you will not have the joy of Christ and the fellowship of the Church. I invite you to put down your guard, put aside the barriers, humble your spirit and join the Church in glorious worship of the King of kings!
