Excitement: Real or Fake?

WITH NOTES TO SELF

Shortly after I graduated from college, I went back home for a while to work off the small debt I had accrued during my last year in college.  I quickly found a job waiting tables and cars at a small drive-in restaurant.

One day I arrived to hear two of my co-workers talking about someone I didn’t know.  Evidently, someone had died in a car accident and they were very concerned for the family members of the deceased.  I had read the paper this morning.  I didn’t see any mention of a car accident.  The way they were talking, I thought it would be front page news.  Finally, I interrupted and asked how they knew this person.  Sheepishly, the cook admitted that they were talking about a soap opera.

That was my first experience with real emotions expended over a false reality.  While I had personally experienced it to a degree in the reading of novels or watching a television show, I don’t think I had ever gotten so caught up in it that I was still talking about it several days later, trying to come to grips with the dynamics of fictional events.

Yet there are times when the excitement we see when we are out and about reminds me of that experience.  A lot of energy and emotion can be expended over things that pale in comparison to others.  I fall so easily into the trap myself.  Sometimes I think that a little entertainment is worth the time I put into it when there are many things that matter so much more that are waiting to be done.  So let me ask you.  Which do you think is better?  

• The excitement (and exhaustion) that comes from raising a family or the excitement of watching the Duggars raise theirs? 
• The excitement of watching a cooking competition on TV or the real joy of taking a meal to an exhausted mother or shut-in?  I’m not opposed to quality entertainment.  I just don’t want to be a watcher on the stage of life when I could be an actor.  Note to self:  The next time you’re watching something on TV, make sure your hands are busy with something more permanent.
• The excitement of a shopping trip to find Christmas presents for people whose closets are already full or the excitement of sending a gift to someone who is trying to survive on $3.00 a month?  Note to self:  Find more joy in giving to the needy than in giving to those who already have.  Remember, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
• The excitement of winning a war on your video game or the excitement of actually getting out there and engaging in spiritual combat against the forces of evil?  Note to self:  Make sure you are daily engaged in battle for the souls of others.  As Paul put it so well, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” 
• The excitement of climbing a mountain with a group of friends or the excitement of personally (or corporately) reaching new spiritual heights?  Note to self:  Encourage yourself and your friends to be more concerned with spiritual discipline than with physical achievements.  As Paul wrote to Timothy, “ For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”

The list could go on, but you get the picture.

This morning I was reading in Acts where Philip had gone to teach and preach.  The end of the story reads, “And there was great joy in that city.”  Great joy.  That’s what I like to see.  So what had been going on?  The people there listened and obeyed Philip’s teaching and they saw many miracles taking place – miracles such as people being healed and set free from demons. 

In the past two years of deputation, we have had the privilege of being in churches where excitement abounds.  The excitement is not being generated by the music, social events, children's activities, or even the next thing on the calendar.  The excitement we see seems to be about the obvious work of God in their midst.  People are being saved from the clutches of their sin.  Lives are being changed.  People are telling others about the greatest thing that has ever happened to them.  They are encouraging people to come to their church because they are excited about what they see God doing in their their own lives and in the lives of their friends.  They want their friends and colleagues to experience what they have. 

I like excitement.  But more and more I want it to be the kind of excitement that causes heaven to rejoice. 

From Erudite to Folksy

 

After a couple days of a feverish cold, I felt tired and lightheaded.  My sister offered to settle me down on the couch with a radio broadcast of her church, but since her church was literally across the street, I decided to go.  We sat on the front row of the balcony where my coughing (hopefully) would not contaminate those in front of me. 

From the first triumphant chords of the pipe organ to the final prayer of the pastor, I was reminded that I was in a church that was comfortable with big words, classical music, and cultured tastes.  My compromised voice did not permit me to join in the congregational singing, but my heart worshipped as I heard the hundreds of voices energetically praising God.  The sermon was well crafted and well presented.  It suited the congregation who had come to listen and learn.  They were not there to please themselves.  They wanted to obey the Savior of their Souls. 

After church and lunch, I took a much-needed afternoon nap.  Awaking refreshed, I was ready to head out once again for an evening service. 

If the morning were classified as erudite, the evening has to be classified as folksy.  The pianist’s fingers flew across the keyboard while the congregation sang old-fashioned favorites.  The pastor grew up in Cajun-country and spoke in a folksy southern style.  He was blunt when he needed to be, yet funny.  The sermon was frequently punctuated by ”Amens!” from the congregation.  When it grew quiet, he knew he hit a sensitive spot. 

When I left that evening, I was greatly encouraged by the diversity of the Body of Christ.  Most of the people from that morning’s service would not have wanted to attend the church of the evening and vice versa.  Yet in both places, their love for Christ their Savior shone through everything they did. 

When you attend the same church for ten, thirty or sixty years, it’s easy to assume that other churches are like yours.  Deputation has been good to show us how diverse Christ’s body actually is.  Whether it could be classified as high church or low, what really matters is whether people are there to fellowship with God’s people and to learn and grow together.  Today was just one more example of how different local churches can be from one to the next.