The church and the bar (luke 13)

Have you ever been two very different places and had them feel very much the same?

I had an interesting day. It began this morning with church. We wondered into a church I had never been to before. We looked up the times for services on the web site and showed up at the according time. When we arrived we went down stairs to find the class for my daughter as directed by the greeter at the door. After waiting for 15 minutes in an empty hallway for the teachers and the rest of the class to show up, we finally went back up stairs to find out from the same greeter, perhaps the children’s programs start half an hour later. I was ready to spend the rest of our worship time at the park when Lorelai got interested in some toys and remained until her class started and then went in cheerfully.

This evening I went to a local lounge. One of my favorite uncles was a contestant on a local version of the dating game. He was one of the bachelors to be interviewed and possibly picked by the eligible young lady on the other side of the screen. It was a fun little experience to watch and listen to my uncles responses. Unfortunately he was not picked, but he sure had fun. We sat and talked for a while with the rest of my family who was there. Sipping on my roy Rodgers (cherry coke) and watching the interactions of those around me.

As I look back on it now. It is strange to me the people at the bar seemed not a whole lot different to me than the ones at church. Sure the music, language, and comments were very much different. But I didn’t have more connection with anyone at either place. I was a rather passive observer at both. Recognizing the differences between my points of view and those around me at both places.

Tonight as I was taking some time for reflection I was reading in Luke chapter 13. Jesus is approached by a very strange subject of some of the Galileans who were slain by pilot. Jesus asks if the people around him think these individuals were any worse of than the rest of them. Jesus’ response is no. He gives another scenario and asks if those people were any more guilty than the others. Again the answer is no. Jesus goes on to say in both situations, there is an equal need for repentance for all those involved.

The people at church today, the people in the bar, and myself are all in the same boat. No sin is greater than another. We all need to come to a place of repentance We all need to come to Christ and open our hearts to him. He is the only one who makes any difference. It’s not us, it’s him.

I don’t know what sort of vibe I put off at the church tonight or at the bar. But I came to realize we are all in the same boat. All of us. We all need to come to a place in our lives where we repent, which means turn around and run after God. Those in church who have forsaken the world around them and just blame it on the world coming to the end of time and people not wanting church need to repent. And those in the bar just looking to get laid need to repent too. And I as the impassive observer of both need to repent as well.

It’s not about where we are from or whom we say we know. It is about what we do next and whom we are pursuing. If we are pursuing Christ, then I cannot remain dispassionate and disconnected in either place.

We are all in the same place my friends. May we come to that realization and turn around and run after God whether we spent the day in church, in the bar, or in both.