It’s the same every time.
The women outnumber the men. The
women greet other women with smiles and hugs of acknowledgement. I give a courtesy “hello” and continue
walking. Or if the woman is a
hugger/greeter, I return the church hug greeting. As I take my seat I survey the audience again
mentally noting how few men are in attendance.
Those who are fall into the category of security, ministers, or other
male volunteers performing a service.
I wonder why more men are not present? Is it that some men do not feel comfortable
with another man telling them how to run their household? Is it that a man tires of hearing his wife
talk about the pastor in glowing terms that the wife may seldom use about her
spouse? Is it just that the emotional nature
of the church service does not appeal to an action based man? I will let other men speak for
themselves. Me, I attend with my
spouse. It’s something to do with other
people. A communal worshiping of our
Creator. I figure if I can give 2 hours
plus of my time attending a professional basketball game at a ridiculous price
to watch grown men play with a ball, I can at least give an hour and a half in
praise and listening to scriptures about our Creator. I don’t have to give an offering. It could be a free event if I chose to make
it so.
I see the occasional male/female couple in church. Sometimes their body language indicates at
what stage their relationship is at. If
there is a gap between their place in the pew or little eye contact like two
men in a restroom, the indication is they are working through a bump in their
relationship. If they are cuddled
together, or the man has his arm around the lady, they are totally emotionally
synchronized for the worship service. It’s
a positive to see a couple or a family in church together.
As the worship team starts singing and the worship leader exhorts
the audience to actively participate, I attempt to focus on the reason why I am
there. The concept is that we are all
there to praise our Creator and offer thanks in a community type event. The worship leader exhorts us to clap, raise
our hands, open our mouths, clap, and sing along. The directions are fine, and I’m sure they
serve a purpose. But at times I really
don’t want to be instructed on how I personally should worship. We all may worship differently and at a time
that fits our emotional connection with our Creator. So most of the time I don’t follow the orders
to raise my hands or sing. I want to
react and participate in the way I want to express myself when I feel and want
to express myself.
After the cursory two songs designed it seems to allow time
for the Pastor to arrive and get settled, then comes the message of the
day. I sometimes wonder what inspires
the message of the day? Or if there is
no inspiration does the minister pull from one of his “greatest hits” sermons
that have worked before? Either way, the
point seems to be that someone in the audience is reached by the message and
hopefully inspired to do better.
Being in the 50 plus age bracket, most of the messages are
things I have heard before. So, I don’t
get much original “wow” moments from the message of the pastor. My thought is that at my age I know what is
right and what is wrong. Either you do
right because you want to or you do wrong because you want to. We have the ability to stop doing wrong at
any time. Ministers seem to help us
remember that we have the ability to stop doing wrong and attempt to inspire us
to get back onto the correct path in life.
The sermon therefore serves a purpose.
For me it is mainly a reminder.
I also believe that one reason for gathering together in
church is to ensure that enough money is gathered to keep the church
functioning. But with the internet age
upon us, and the age of video and streaming, it would seem that actually
physically being in a church to worship and collect funds is not a
requirement. Who says you can’t “have church” from your living room with the
family gathered around you? We can
always give money electronically to a church.
Even now in my church some give electronically rather than writing a
check or depositing money in an envelope on Sunday.
Church services do seem to allow women to emotionally vent
and release. The songs allow many women
to release the emotions that have built up over a course of time. Tears flow, tissues are passed to them and
the women may even shout out to release the emotions they are feeling. Not to say that the few men who attend never
express themselves emotionally. I often
wonder what the women are going through in their lives that results in this
emotional release.
What would a church service be if the attendees were all
men? Well, I’ve been to all male group
sessions at churches. There is little
releasing of emotion at these sessions.
It’s basically a factual sharing by men of what they think and maybe
why.
I read my bible on my own.
That is my way of staying connected with the principles of Jesus Christ
and our Creator. In terms of knowledge
gained, I really don’t get much out of the sermons I have heard in church. They are a regurgitation of what I’ve heard
before. So for me I’m looking for
something new and revealing that I haven’t heard before. Otherwise I don’t need someone to repeat
something that I can read on my own.
That is where I am at in my life’s journey. For me turning on my computer, or a
television to connect to a church service would be fine. I used to assist with intake of new members
into the church. That is the point in
the service where the pastor offers people the chance to give their lives to
Christ or to join the church. At that
point having someone physically available to connect with you is
important. But, if conditions ever exist
where people cannot get out of their homes to go to a church building, the
internet age can suffice as a medium to connect people to a community church
service.
For me the church service is a community event that is just
one option of communicating with our Creator.
If it works for you that is great.
But for me it doesn’t provide any advantage that would come from reading
my bible, or watching a service on television or streamed on my computer. It is our actions that indicate our
relationship to our Creator. I’d rather
perform actions during the week that show my relationship. The Sunday or even midweek services don’t
provide me with any inspiration that I already don’t have. But, if you need to be in church, then
continue to be there.
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